UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 


Class 


An  Historical  Introduction 

to  the 

Marprelate  Tracts 

A  Chapter  in  the  Evolution  of  Religious 
and  Civil  Liberty  in  England 


BY 


WILLIAM    PIERCE 


NEW  YORK 

E.  P.  BUTTON  AND  COMPANY 

29  WEST  23RD  STREET 
1909 


; 


?6T 


AN  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION  TO 
THE    MARPRELATE   TRACTS 


or  -HE 
UNIVERSITY 


SIR  RICHARD  KNIGHTLEY.     1534-1615. 


TO 
THE    REVEREND 

JOSEPH    JONES,  M.A. 

OP    SUTTON    IN    SURREY 

IN    REMEMBRANCE    OP    A    LONG,    GLOBE,    AND    UNBROKEN 

FRIENDSHIP,    DATING    FROM    THE   DAYS 

WHEN    HE    AND    THE    WRITER 

WERE    FELLOW-STUDENTS 

AT    COLLEGE 


388 


PEEFACE 

THE  place  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts  in  the  development  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs  in  England  must  justify  the  following 
endeavour  to  explain  their  origin  and  character.  The  years 
which  come  under  our  observation,  the  first  thirty  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  are  vital  years  in  the  story  of  progress, 
both  civil  and  religious,  in  our  country.  The  ferment  of 
the  intellectual  upheaval  of  the  fifteenth  century  showed 
itself  in  England  first,  as  a  religious  force ;  then,  by  neces- 
sary consequence,  the  civil  movement  followed.  But  pro- 
gress, whether  in  Church  or  in  State,  came  to  a  standstill 
under  the  reign  of  Mary.  Intellectually  this  period  counts 
for  nothing.  Its  significance  is  moral.  The  reaction 
following  the  cruelties  of  the  reign  became  the  dynamic 
of  the  reforming  creed,  and  the  arrested  currents  of  national 
progress  travelled  at  an  accelerated  pace  when  released  at 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth.  There  was  never  a  moment's 
illusion  on  the  part  of  the  Papal  Church  on  the  one  hand, 
or  of  the  Church  which  replaced  it  under  the  direction  of 
Elizabeth  on  the  other,  that  a  break  had  been  made  in  the 
continuity  of  the  religious  story  of  the  country.  What  the 
Vatican  thought  of  the  proceeding  may  be  seen  in  the  Bull 
of  Pius  V.  and  in  the  humiliating  act  of  contrition  by  which 
the  Roman  Church  still  receives  the  Protestant  wanderer 
back  to  its  fold.  What  the  Elizabethan  Protestants  thought 
of  the  Church  they  had  left  may  be  seen  for  that  matter 

vii 


viii  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

clearly  enough  in  their  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  But  the 
literature  of  the  period  leaves  no  ambiguity  in  the  mind  of 
any  reader.  There  was  not  a  bishop  nor  superior  ecclesi- 
astic in  the  reformed  church  to  whom  the  Pope  was  not  in 
very  truth  the  Antichrist.  The  question  of  compromise 
with  Eome  was  in  no  man's  mind.  Rome  offered  no 
compromise ;  the  English  prelates  of  the  period  neither 
desired  compromise  nor  conceived  it  to  be  possible.  The 
activity  of  Rome  was  political ;  its  culmination  was  the 
expedition  of  the  Spanish  Armada.  On  the  side  of  the 
Reformation  the  question  was,  How  far  shall  evangelical 
progress  go  ?  The  fierce  controversies  of  the  time  turn  on 
that  point.  Elizabeth,  caring  little  for  the  purely  theo- 
logical issues,  desired  to  retain  the  external  pomp  of  the 
Papal  Church  as  befitting  the  dignity  of  a  sovereign ;  the 
men  who  clambered  into  high  office  in  the  Church  wished 
for  the  reformed  creed,  a  simplified  worship,  but  retaining 
all  the  emoluments  and  administrative  authority  of  the 
displaced  Roman  prelates.  The  evangelical  reformers,  how- 
ever, would  have  cleared  the  Prayer  Book  of  all  ritual 
reminiscences  of  Rome ;  would  have  banished  the  official 
vestments  of  ministers ;  and  have  purified  the  Church  of  all 
merely  nominal  members — baptized  parishioners  who  showed 
no  outward  sign  that  they  were  obedient  to  any  religious  faith 
and  discipline.  Prelacy  they  would  have  utterly  destroyed, 
and  all  parties  among  them  would  have  given  a  varying 
measure  of  self-government  to  each  distinct  local  community. 
Such  was  the  position.  Controversy  began  early  in  the 
reign  and  gathered  strength  as  Elizabeth  felt  free  from  the 
obsession  of  the  Catholic  powers,  and  as  the  reforming  pre- 
lates were  corrupted  by  the  privileges  of  their  offices.  The 
culmination  of  the  repressive  acts  of  the  episcopacy  and  of 
the  energy  of  the  reforming  apologetic  is  represented  by 
the  Marprelate  Tracts.  How  far  they  have  been  rnisunder- 


PREFACE  ix 

stood,  and  underestimated  because  misunderstood,  I  have 
partly  set  forth  in  the  following  pages.  But  I  might  have 
gone  much  farther  than  I  have  and  shown  how  historians 
of  repute  have  perpetrated  '  howlers '  in  writing  of  these 
well-known  and  yet  unknown  pamphlets. 

I  have  been  hoping  to  publish  an  edition  of  the  Tracts 
themselves,  with  necessary  historical  elucidations,  in  the 
preparation  of  which  I  have  spent  the  leisure  of  some  years, 
and  now  cherish  a  faint  hope  that  the  publication  of  this 
Introduction  may  promote  a  demand  for  such  an  edition. 
The  Tracts  are  of  value  as  literature,  but  to  the  student  of 
ecclesiastical  history  they  are  essential.  They  show  by 
what  fortuitous  circumstances  religious  liberty  was  gradu- 
ally achieved ;  and  civil  liberty  is  the  necessity  of  religious 
liberty,  which  cannot  otherwise  realise  itself. 

In  my  work  I  have  had  to  rely  upon  the  kindness  of 
the  custodians  of  our  great  public  libraries,  and  in  this  I 
have  never  been  disappointed.  My  studies  have  been 
carried  on  chiefly  at  our  great  national  library  in  the 
British  Museum ;  but  I  am  also  under  great  obligations  to 
the  learned  librarians  at  the  Lambeth  Palace  Library,  Dr. 
Williams's  Library,  Gordon  Square,  the  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity Library,  and  the  John  Kylands  Library,  Man- 
chester. My  first  adventures  in  the  present  field  of  history 
were  greatly  facilitated  by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Edward  M. 
Borrajo,  the  chief  librarian  at  the  Guildhall,  an  authority 
on  all  that  pertains  to  the  city  of  London,  and  throughout 
my  researches  I  have  had  the  help  of  the  Eev.  T.  G.  Crippen 
of  the  Congregational  Library,  Memorial  Hall,  London.  I 
have  to  thank  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  permission 
granted,  through  his  Grace's  librarian,  Mr.  S.  W.  Kershaw, 
M.A.,  F.S.A.,  to  photograph  the  title-pages  of  two  of  the 
Tracts ;  the  Lady  Knightley  of  Fawsley  for  her  favour 
in  allowing  me  to  insert  the  portrait  of  Sir  Kichard 


x  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Knightley,  the  friend  of  the  evangelical  reformers  in  Eliza- 
beth's days,  and  the  Eight  Hon.  Lord  Calthorpe,  D.L., 
for  generously  allowing  me  to  consult  a  volume  of  the 
Yelverton  MSS. 

The  references  which  accompany  the  following  pages  are 
to  the  original  editions  except  where  otherwise  stated.  The 
edition  of  John  Foxe's  Acts  and  Monuments  quoted  is  that 
edited  by  Stoughton  and  Pratt;  and  I  have  used  Neale's 
History  of  the  Puritans  in  the  edition  of  1822,  in  five 
volumes  8vo.  The  titles  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts,  for  the 
convenience  of  readers  unfamiliar  with  them,  are  printed 
throughout  in  capitals.  My  indebtedness  to  previous 
writers  I  have  desired  in  every  instance  to  acknowledge, 
and  if  in  any  case  I  have  failed  to  do  this,  I  express  here 
my  unfeigned  regret. 

W.  P. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY — 1558-1583 

Section  I. — Ecclesiastical  Uniformity 

PAGE 

1.  THE  GIFT  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  AND  ITS  RESULTS  .         2 

2.  THE  RETURN  OF  THE  EXILES       ....         3 

3.  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLICY  OF  ELIZABETH         .  .         6 

4.  THE  VESTIARIAN  CONTROVERSY   ....         9 

5.  THE  ADVERTISMENTS        .            .            .             .  .10 

6.  UNIFORMITY  AND  NONCONFORMITY            .             .  .15 

7.  THE  LITERATURE  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY  .             .  .17 

8.  THE  PRESS  CENSORSHIP  .             .             .             .  .21 

9.  A  CONVENTICLE  AT  PLUMBERS'  HALL       .             .  .23 

10.  THE     ATTITUDE    OF    THE     ROMANISTS    AND     NATIONAL 

PROGRESS           .             .             .             .             .  .26 

11.  THE  QUEEN'S  SUITORS      .             .             .             .  .28 

The  Gaping  Gulph           .              .              .              .  .30 

1  Eliz.  cap.  7     .              .              .              .              .  .30 

Section  II.— A  House  Divided  against  Itself 

1.  EPISCOPAL  REARRANGEMENTS        .             .             .  .31 

2.  THE  NEW  POLICY  IN  OPERATION               .             .  .33 

3.  PURITAN  COUNTER-MOVEMENTS    .             .             .  .33 

4.  THE  ADMONITION  TO  PARLIAMENT  (1572) .             .  .       36 

5.  THE  ENSUING  CONTROVERSY         .             .             .  .40 

xi 


xii  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

FAGB 

6.  JOHN  WHITGIFT  AS  BISHOP'S  ADVOCATE    .  .  .45 

7.  THB  BOOK  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  DISCIPLINE  .  .61 

8.  THE  FORTHCOMING  ANTAGONISTS  OF  THE  ESTABLISHED  ORDER       53 

9.  THREE  TYPES  OF  PROTESTANT  KEFORMERS  .       55 


Section  III. — The  Primacy  of  Edmund  Grindal 

1.  EPISCOPAL     CHANGES     ON     THE     DEATH     OF  MATTHEW 

PARKER             .             .             .             .  .             .57 

2.  THE  PRIMACY  OF  GRINDAL             .             .  .             .58 

3.  THE  PROPHESYINGS             ...  .60 

4.  THE  SEQUESTERED  PRIMATE           .             .  .63 

5.  AYLMER  PERSECUTING  PAPIST  AND  PURITAN  .             .       66 

6.  WHITGIFT'S  ZEAL  AT  WORCESTER  .  67 


CHAPTER    II 

THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY — 1583-1593 
Section  I. — His  Prompt  and  Determined  Measures 

1.  His  QUALIFICATIONS  .  .  .  .  .69 

2.  WHITGIFT'S  NEW  ARTICLES  .  .  .  .70 

Note. — Whitgift  and  Underdown  .       72 

Section  II. — The  New  '  High  Commission ' 

1.  THE  DEMAND  FOR  A  MORE  FORMIDABLE  COURT    .  .74 

2.  THE  UNPOPULARITY  OF  THE  NEW  COURT  .  .  .76 

3.  THE  CASE  OF  ROBERT  CAWDREY   .  .  .  .77 

4.  THE  OATH  EX  OFFICIO        .  .  .  .  .80 

5.  WIGGINTON'S  OPPOSITION  AND  ITS  PENALTY  .  .       83 

6.  PROTESTS  OF  BURLEIGH  AND  ATTORNEY  MORRICE  .  .       86 

7.  LATER   PHASES   OF   THE   COURT   UNDER   WHITGIFT,   BAN- 

CROFT, AND  LAUD          .  .       90 


CONTENTS  xiii 


Section  III. — Emptying  the  Pulpits  and  Filling  the  Gaols 


PAGE 


1.  LITERARY  PROTESTS  .  .  .  .  .92 

2.  PROTESTS  OP  THE  REFORMING  CLERGY       .  .  .94 

3.  PETITIONS  FROM  THE  COUNTRY      .  .  .  .96 

4.  WHITGIFT  AND  ROBERT  BEALE,  CLERK  OF  THE  COUNCIL  .       98 


Section  IV. — The  State  of  the  Ministry 

1.  EFFORTS  TO  RESTRICT  PLURALISM  AND  NON-RESIDENCY  .       99 

2.  THE  AVARICE  OF  THE  BISHOPS     .             .             .  .101 

3.  JEWEL'S  DENUNCIATION  OF  PLURALISM        .             .  .104 

4.  WHITGIFT'S  DEFENCE  OF  THE  EVIL            .             .  .105 

Note. — Typical  Lay  Opinions — W.  Stafford,  Compendious 

Examination ;      PhiL      Stubbes,     Anatomie  of 
Abuses               .....      107 

5.  AN  UNLEARNED  MINISTRY              .             .             .  .108 

6.  WHITGIFT'S  CHARACTER  AND  OPINIONS      .             .  .111 

7.  SOME  ELIZABETHAN  BISHOPS           .             .             .  .124 

8.  IMPRISONMENT  UNDER  BISHOP  WHITGIFT   .             .  .127 

9.  THE  LONDON  PRISONS  IN  1688  131 


CHAPTEK    III 
THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS 

Section  I. — The  Controversy  which  called  forth  the 
Marprelate  Tracts 

1.  THE  LEARNED  DISCOURSE  .  .  .  .  .136 

2.  THE  DEFENCE  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  ESTABLISHED,  BY  JOHN 

BRIDGES  .  .  .  .  .  .139 

3.  IMMEDIATE  REPLIES  TO  THE  DEFENCE        .  ,  .143 


xiv  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Section  II. — Martin  Marprelate 

PAGE 

1.  ANNUS  MIRABILIS,  1588     .....     144 

2.  THE  SEVEN  'MARTINS'      .....     148 

3.  THE  STORY  OP  THE  PRODUCTION  OP  THE  TRACTS.  .     151 

(1)  Robert  Waldegrave,  the  Puritan  Printer      .  .151 

(2)  The  First  Marprelate  Printiug-House           .  .154 

(3)  The  First  ' Martin '              .              .              .  .155 

(4)  The  Press  at  Fawsley  House             .              .  .156 

(5)  The  Episcopal  'Hue  and  Cry1          .  .160 

(6)  The  Second 'Martin'          .              .              .  .161 

(7)  Humfrey  Newman,  Chief  Distributer           .  .163 

(8)  The  High  Commission  at  Work       .              .  .164 

(9)  Bishop  Cooper's  Admonition  to  the  People     .  .165 

(10)  Bancroft's  Sermon  at  Paul's  Cross   .  .172 

(11)  Activity  of  Censor  and  Pursuivant .              .  .176 

(12)  Removal  of  the  Press  to  Coventry  .  .178 

(13)  The  Coventry  Pamphlets    .              .  .180 

(14)  Waldegrave's  Retirement     .              .              .  .182 

(15)  Job  Throkmorton  of  Haseley  Manor             .  .184 

(16)  John  Hodgkins,  the  second  Marprelate  Printer  .     185 

(17)  '  Martin  Junior '  and  '  Martin  Senior '          .  .     186 

(18)  The  Catastrophe  at  Manchester        .             .  .189 

(19)  The  Last 'Martin'  .     191 


CHAPTER    IY 

THE  EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY 
Section  I.— The  Persecution  of  the  Confederates 

1.  THE  EXAMINATION  OP  THE  PRINTERS          .  .  .196 

2.  ON  THE  RACK        ......     197 

3.  HENRY  SHARPE'S  BETRAYAL  .  .  .  .201 

4.  THE  GOVERNMENT'S  BRIEF  ....     204 

5.  IMPORTANT  ARRESTS  205 


CONTENTS  xv 

PAGE 

6.  PENRY'S  ESCAPE    .              .             .             .             .  .208 

7.  ANOTHER  RENDEZVOUS  AT  HASELEY           .             .  .209 

8.  IMPRISONMENT  OP  UDALL  .             .             .             .  .212 

9.  PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST  JOB  THROKMORTON  .             .  .214 

Section  II. — The  Episcopal  Literary  Free-Lances  and 
Cross-Bench  Writers 

1.  WHITGIFT'S  'LETTERS  OF  MARQUE'             .             .  .219 

2.  MARTIN  ON  THE  STAGE      .             .             .             .  .221 

3.  THE  FLOOD  OF  ANTI-MARTINIST  LITERATURE          .  .223 

(a)  Marty n  said  to  his  Man       .              .              .  .223 

(6)  Mar-Martine            .              .              .              .  .224 

(c)  Anti-Martinus         .              .              .              .  .225 

(d)  A  Gountercuffe         .              .              .              .  .226 

(e)  A    Whip  for   an    Ape    (Eythmes    against    Martin 

Marre-Prelate)  .              .              .              .  .227 

(f)  The  Eeturne  of  Pasquill       .              .              .  .227 

(g)  Pappe  with  an  Hatchet         .'             .              .  .228 
(h)  Martins  Months  Mind          .              .              .  .229 
(i)  A  Myrror  for  Martinists       .              .              .  .230 

4.  CROSS-BENCH  WRITERS       .             .             .             .  .230 

(a)  Marre  Mar-Martin              .              .              .  .231 

(6)  Plaint  Percevall  the  Peace-Maker      .              .  .231 

NOTE. —  M.  Some  laide  open  in  his  Coulers  .              .  .     233 

5.  THE  CONTROVERSY  DURING  1590    .             .             .  .235 

(a)  A  Friendly  Admonition  by  L.  Wright           .  .      236 

(b)  An  Almond  for  a  Parrat     ....     236 

(c)  The  First  Parte  of  Pasquils  Apologie              .  .239 

(d)  A  Theologicall  Discourse  of  the  Lamb  of  God  .     240 

CHAPTER    V 

ANCILLARY  LITERATURE,  MARTINIST  AND  ANTI-MARTINIST 

1.  A  DIALOGUE  WHEREIN  is  LAIDE  OPEN        .            .  .242 

2.  A  PETITION  DIRECTED  TO  HER  MAIESTIE    .             .  244 


xvi  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

PAOR 

3.  AN  ANSWERS  TO  A  PETITION,  BY  SUTCLIFFE  .     247 

4.  BANCROFT'S  DISCIPLINARY  TRACTS  ....     249 

(a)  A  Survey  of  the  Pretended  Holy  Discipline    .  .249 

(6)  Dangerous  Positions  .  .249 

5.  THROKMORTON  AND  SUTCLIFFE        .  .251 

(a)  The  Defence  of  Job  Throkmorton        .  .251 

(&)  An  Answer e  to  Job  Throkmorton       .  .253 


CHAPTER    VI 
THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHORSHIP 

Section  I.— The  General  Character  of  the  Tracts 

1.  THEIR  INDICTMENT  FRAMED  ON  FALSE  ISSUES       .  .255 

(a)  Sedition     .              .  .              .255 

(&)  Heresy        .  .256 

(c)  Blasphemy  .     257 

2.  THEIR  ALLEGED  SCURRILITY  .                                        .258 

(a)  «  Bishops  of  the  Devil '  .258 

(6)  '  The  Lawes  of  the  Stewes' .                           .  .259 

(c)  Calling  the  Bishops  '  devilish  '    and   '  murderers  of 

souls'   ......     260 

3.  THE  PATRIOTISM  OF  MARPRELATE               .             .  .     262 

4.  THE  JUSTIFICATION  OF  MARTIN'S  WIT  AND  SATIRE  .     263 

5.  THE  TRACTS  A  GREAT  PROTEST  AGAINST  OPPRESSION  .     265 

(a)  The  exception  against  Romanism     .  .  .266 

(&)  The    Idea    of    Liberty   limited    by   false    Biblical 

Exegesis  .....     267 

(c)  Political  Backwardness  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Reformers     270 

(d)  The    Reformers    the    only    Resisters    to    Civil    and 

Ecclesiastical  Oppression  .  .  .271 

Section  II. — The  Authorship  of  the  Tracts 

1.  WIDESPREAD  INTEREST  IN  THE  INQUIRY    .  .  .273 

2.  Two  CLASSES  OF  MARPRELATE  TRACTS  274 


CONTENTS  xvii 

FAdS 

3.  CLUES  IN  THE  TEXT    .....  276 

4.  PERSONS  SUSPECTED     .....  277 

(1)  John  UdaU 277 

(2)  Giles  Wigginton     .  .  .  .  .280 

(3)  Francis  Merbury     .  .  .  .  .281 

(4)  John  Field  .  .  .  .  .282 

(5)  Eusebius  Pagit        .....      283 

(6)  John  Penry  .  ...      284 

(7)  Job  Throkmorton   .....     284 

(8)  Henry  Barrowe       .  .  .  .  .286 

5.  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  EVIDENCE  IN  FAVOUR  OF  ASSIGNING 

THE  AUTHORSHIP  TO  PENRY  OR  THROKMORTON  .     289 

(a)  Directorship  of  the  Secret  Press        .              .  .289 

(6)  Penry's  and  Throkmorton's  Acquaintance  with  the 

MS.  Originals  of  the  Secondary  Tracts  .  .     290 

(c)  The  Handwriting    .              .              .              .  .291 

(d)  Language  and  Style                           .              .  .     292 

Note.—  Word  Tests        .  .  .294 

(e)  The  unfinished  THESES  MARTINIANAE  .  .     295 
(/)  The  Relative  Literary  Merits  of  the  Primary  and 

Secondary  Tracts  .  .  .  .301 

(g)  The  Evidence  of  THE  PROTESTATYON  .  .     303 


APPENDICES 

A.  A  CHRONOLOGY  OF  EVENTS,  1588-1590     .  .  .311 

B.  A  SELECT    BIBLIOGRAPHY  OP  THE    MARPRELATE   CONTRO- 

VERSY .  .  .  .  .  .322 

C.  THE  EXAMINATIONS  OF  (1)  JOHN  HODGKINS,  AND  (2)  SIMMS 

AND  THOMYLN  .....     333 

INDEX  341 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTKATIONS 

PAGE 

PORTRAIT  OF  SIR  RICHARD  KNIGHTLEY          .  .      Frontispiece 

TITLE-PAGE  OF  'THE  EPISTLE'  .  .  .      To  face  156 

TITLE-PAGE  OF  'THE  PROTESTATYON '  ..       192 


xix 


CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTORY 

1558-1583 

Section  I. — Ecclesiastical  Uniformity 

THE  writer  of  an  obscure  sixteenth-century  manuscript  opens 
his  parable  by  saying,  '  It  is  an  old  true  sayd  saw,  gentle 
reader,  that  truth  is  the  daughter  of  tyme.'  Of  the  accuracy 
of  the  proverb  the  Marprelate  Tracts  are  an  eminent  illus- 
tration. Written  in  the  midst  of  a  furious  ecclesiastical 
controversy,  they  were  naturally  misrepresented  by  their 
opponents.  They  attacked  the  Bishops  and  the  established 
form  of  church  government;  they  are  accused  of  sedition 
and  blasphemy.  Up  to  our  own  day,  writers  who  have 
never  read  them  have  been  content  to  repeat  the  old  mis- 
representations ;  those  whose  cause  Marprelate  so  strenuously 
defended  three  centuries  ago,  even  they,  knowing  practically 
nothing  of  their  contents,  dismiss  the  Tracts  summarily 
with  the  remark  that  they  are  scurrilous.  It  was  well  on 
in  the  nineteenth  century  before  men  began  to  see  that  the 
whole  truth  had  not  been  told  about  these  notable  writings. 
Of  Episcopalian  writers,  Hunt  in  his  Religious  Thought  in 
England  was  the  first  to  weigh  the  facts  judicially  and  to 
try  to  do  justice  between  Martin  and  his  Episcopalian 
opponents.  But  it  was  left  to  the  American  writer,  Dr. 
Henry  Martyn  Dexter,  in  his  Congregationalism  as  seen  in 
its  Literature,  to  fully  appreciate  the  great  qualities  of  this 
unknown  writer,  and  to  disentangle  him,  in  some  measure, 

i  B 


2  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

at  least,  from  the  misrepresentations  heaped  upon  his 
name. 

The  controversy  occasioned  by  the  publication  of  the 
Marprelate  Tracts  has  been  accurately  described  by  Maskell 
as  the  great  controversy  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Pub- 
lished in  the  years  1588  and  1589,  they  sum  up  the 
religious  discussions  which  began  with  the  death  of  Mary 
Tudor  and  extended  to  their  own  time.  And  the  matters 
debated  in  their  pages  are  still  agitating  the  minds  of 
Englishmen.  Our  present  duty  is  to  present  the  ecclesi- 
astical history  of  the  previous  thirty  years,  for  the  first 
twenty-five  years  very  briefly,  and  afterwards  with  greater 
detail,  so  that  the  reader  may  appreciate  the  ecclesiastical, 
and  to  some  extent  the  political,  situation  which  gave  rise 
to  these  Tracts.  We  shall  then  discuss  the  documents 
themselves  and  narrate  the  story  of  their  production. 

1.  The  Gift  of  the  English  New  Testament  and  its  Results. 
— For  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in  England  in  the  six- 
teenth century  the  supreme  event  is  the  publication  of 
William  Tyndale's  New  Testament.  He  had  a  prescient 
sense  of  its  fighting  value  when  he  called  the  Scriptures, 
meaning  especially  those  of  the  New  Testament,  the  '  Successor 
of  the  Apostles.'  His  version  was  the  fruit  of  the  New 
Learning,  inasmuch  as  it  was  translated  directly  out  of  the 
Greek.  It  had  all  the  freshness  of  first-hand  contact  with 
the  living  sources.  It  was  the  work  of  a  mind  unwarped 
by  ecclesiastical  prejudices.  Moreover  it  possessed  a 
national  importance  as  the  most  thoroughly  English  piece 
of  literature  that,  as  yet,  had  appeared.  Here  was  no 
temptation  to  wander  into  the  outlandish  vocabulary  and 
style  of  a  half-naturalised  romance.  The  duties  of  the 
translator  were  narrowly  laid  down.  And  even  as  the 
Greek  which  Tyndale  turned  into  his  mother  tongue  was 
not  classical  Greek  badly  written,  but  the  current  and 
acceptable  language  of  the  time,  so  also  the  translation 
was  into  the  true  vernacular  and  idiom  of  the  English  of 
Tyndale's  own  generation.  He  invested  the  language  of 
the  people  with  a  new  literary  value.  So  great  was  his 


INTRODUCTORY  3 

genius  that  the  English  folk  have  never  truly  realised  that 
their  New  Testament  is  a  translation. 

It  is  the  contents  of  this  Book,  however,  which  make  it 
a  portentous  gift  to  any  people.  The  elements  of  a  social 
revolution  are  ever  slumbering  in  its  pages.  To  rouse  them 
it  needs  but  the  harsh  uplifted  voice  of  tyranny.  In  later 
years  the  persecuted  reformers,  addressing  the  Privy  Council 
from  their  prison,  reminded  them  how  Elizabeth  had  pub- 
lished the  Scriptures  and  exhorted  '  all  her  subjects  to  the 
diligent  reading  and  sincere  obedience  thereof.'  Behold, 
they  had  complied  with  her  royal  advice,  and  for  a  reward 
had  been  cast  into  gaol.1  For  it  is  the  peculiar  virtue  of 
these  Scriptures  to  command  a  higher  obedience  than  that 
which  may  justly  be  due  to  princes  and  those  in  power. 
They  assert  a  divine  worthiness  to  belong  to  the  common 
man,  whose  honour  and  estate  it  is  to  be  the  child  of  an 
Eternal  Father,  and  in  that  condition  he  cannot  as  a  child 
fulfil  his  duty  to  that  Father  except  he  be  free.  And  he 
cannot,  if  these  Gospels  are  to  be  believed,  be  oppressed  by 
princes  and  prelates  except  at  their  peril.  It  was  folly  on 
the  part  of  Elizabeth  first  to  give  William  Tyndale's  New 
Testament  to  her  people,  and  then  to  perpetuate  the  old 
Tudor  absolutism  in  the  government  of  Church  and  State. 

2.  The  Return  of  the  Exiles. — It  was  foretold  by  John 
Rogers,  the  popular  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's,  and  first  of 
those  burnt  at  the  stake  in  1555  by  Catholic  Mary  and 
her  Bishops,  that  as  the  '  captive,  thrall,  and  miserable 
Jewes '  had  perforce  to  return  from  exile,  '  spite  of 
Nabuchodonosor's  beard  and  maugre  his  heart/  so  also 
'  the  dispersed  English  fiocke  of  Christ '  should  return  to  an 
even  more  favourable  land  than  was  theirs  *  in  innocent 
King  Edward's  daies.' 2  On  the  1 7th  day  of  November 
1558,  Elizabeth  became  queen  of  this  realm,  and  before 
the  close  of  that  year  the  Exiles  were  reaching  our  shores. 
They  came  from  the  Low  Countries  by  short  stages ;  from 
the  nearer  parts  of  Germany — these  among  the  earlier 
arrivals ;  at  longer  intervals  from  Geneva,  and  Strasburg, 

1  Strype's  Annals,  iv.  131.  2  Foxe,  Ads  and  Mon.  v.  609. 


4  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

from  Zurich,  and  the  remoter  Protestant  cities  of  Germany. 
For  some  of  them  the  good  news  of  the  death  of  Mary  and 
the  end  of  the  Spanish- Catholic  persecution  was  long  on  its 
way ;  and  a  correspondingly  long,  and  in  the  winter  months 
a  perilous,  journey  it  was  to  return  to  their  native  country. 
Upon  their  arrival  they  discovered  that  the  fires  of  persecu- 
tion had  accomplished  their  destined  end.  While  Mary 
was  yet  living  it  was  seen  that  the  hideous  orgy  of  in- 
humanity was  creating  not  terror,  but  a  desperate  courage 
in  the  minds  of  the  English  people.  Ere  the  close  of  these 
dark  tragic  years  Bishop  Bonner,  Mary's  chief  instrument 
in  the  red  persecution,  found  it  prudent  to  suggest  to 
Cardinal  Pole  and  Gardiner,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  that  he 
should  be  allowed  '  to  giff  sentence  against  [the  hereticks] 
here  in  the  parische  church  [of  Fulham]  very  quietly  and 
without  tumult  or  having  the  sheriff  present.'  He  could 
by  this  secret  arrangement  '  have  them  burnt  in  Hammer- 
smythe,  a  myle  from  [his]  howse,'  and  that  '  without 
businesse  or  stirre.' l  But  what  of  the  expectation  of  the 
Romish  persecutors,  that  the  anguish  of  the  fire  would 
strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  '  hot  gospellers '  and 
bring  them  into  servile  subjection  ?  The  truth  they  found 
to  be  contrariwise.  The  thunder  of  the  discontent  of  the 
people  was  in  their  ears,  ominous,  long-continued,  and 
growing  daily  in  force  and  volume. 

It  was  to  such  a  sternly  disillusioned  country  that  the 
Exiles  returned.  Writing  to  Conrad  Gesner  of  Zurich  in 
May  of  the  following  year,  John  Parkhurst,  later  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  says  that  the  Popish  Bishops  were  '  abhorred  both 
by  God  and  man ' ;  the  very  sight  of  them  was  enough  to 
provoke  a  tumult ;  many  would  call  them  '  butchers '  to 
their  face.2  John  Jewel,  the  most  distinguished  of  the  first 
Elizabethan  prelates,  tells  a  significant  story  of  Bonner  when 
he  was  sent  to  prison.  Desiring  to  make  the  best  of  the 
situation,  he  courteously  greeted  his  fellow-prisoners  as 

1  Petyt  MSS.   638,   47.     The  transcript  of  the  Hist.   Com.  Report  has 
been  corrected  by  F.  0.  White.     See  Eliz.  Bishops,  139. 

2  Zurich  Lett.  i.  131. 


INTRODUCTORY  5 

friends  and  companions.  One  of  them,  himself  condemned 
for  murder,  though  he  protested  he  did  the  evil  deed  in 
anger  and  was  sorry  for  it,  cried  out,  *  Do  you  take  me,  you 
brute,  for  a  companion  of  yours  ?  Go  to  hell,  as  you 
deserve ;  you  will  find  companions  there.'  He  had  slain 
but  one ;  Bonner,  he  said,  had  '  causelessly  murdered  vast 
numbers  of  holy  men,  martyrs  of  Christ,  witnesses  and 
maintainers  of  the  truth.' l  Such  was  the  change  wrought 
among  the  people  ;  especially  in  the  Midlands,  the  Eastern 
counties,  and  the  South ;  and  pre-eminently  in  London,  as 
the  centre  of  national  intelligence,  by  the  propaganda  of  the 
stake  and  the  torture  chamber. 

But  if  the  temper  of  the  country,  no  less  also  the  Exiles, 
were  changed.  They  returned,  says  Strype, '  threadbare  .  .  . 
yet  they  brought  with  them  from  the  foreign  churches  and 
universities  much  experience  as  well  as  learning.' 2  They, 
and  the  men  who  went  to  the  stake,  represented  the  most 
advanced  stage  of  Protestant  reform ;  those  that  remained 
at  home,  if  they  did  not  conform  for  politic  reasons,  were 
yet  of  a  less  pronounced  type ;  they  could  afford  to  run  the 
risk  of  remaining  in  hiding,  as  did  Matthew  Parker,  Eliza- 
beth's first  primate.  Barrowe  declined  to  think  very 
highly  of  the  religion  of  a  number  of  his  Episcopalian  con- 
temporaries since  they  had  changed  it  four  times  at  the 
fanfare  of  the  royal  trumpets.  And  Sir  John  Harington, 
referring  to  old  Bishop  Kitchin  of  Llandaff,  quaintly  asks 
how  it  was  possible  for  him  '  to  sing  "  Cantate  domino 
canticum  novum  "  four  times  in  fourteen  yeares  and  never 
sing  out  of  tune,  if  he  had  not  loved  the  Kitchen  better 
than  the  Church.' 3  The  Exiles,  however,  returned  more 
definitely  evangelical  in  their  creed.  Freed  from  the 
terrible  temptation  to  stultify  the  truth,  arising  from  the 
penal  consequence  of  its  profession,  they  naturally  widened 
the  interval  which  separated  them  from  the  paralysing 
corruption  and  superstition  of  the  Eomish  Church  and 
its  creed.  The  result  can  be  seen  at  a  glance  when  we 

1  2ur.  Lett.  i.  82.  2  Annals,  I.  i.  192. 

3  Brief e  View  (1653),  p.  165. 


6  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

compare  the  three  successive  Archbishops  of  Canterbury 
appointed  after  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  whose  primacy 
covered  the  whole  of  her  reign.  Matthew  Parker,  who  had 
remained  in  hiding,  but  kept  the  faith,  was  not  so  merciless 
a  persecutor  as  John  Whitgift,  who  outwardly  conformed. 
By  comparison  with  these  two,  Edmund  Grindal,  who  went 
into  exile,  might  be  regarded  as  lenient.  He  was  suspended 
by  Elizabeth  for  not  suppressing  the  Puritan  c  prophesyings.' 
3.  The  Ecclesiastical  Policy  of  Elizabeth. — The  trouble 
arising  out  of  Elizabeth's  ecclesiastical  policy  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  religion  with  her  was  policy  and  nothing  else. 
Intellectually,  no  doubt,  she  was  on  the  side  of  the  re- 
formers. She  was  a  true  child  of  the  Eenaissance.  The 
secular  enlightenment  of  the  new  age  enabled  her  to  pene- 
trate the  mask  of  priestcraft.  Superstition  had  no  hold 
upon  her.  To  convince  her,  it  was  not  necessary  to  explain 
the  mechanism  of  the  winking  images.  She  had  been  early 
nurtured  on  the  militant  Protestantism  of  Richard  Cox, 
whom  afterwards  she  made  Bishop  of  Ely.  She  knew  well 
what  Romanism  meant,  and  herself  had  only  narrowly 
escaped  burning.  Moreover  she  was  a  true  Tudor.  While 
she  remained  on  the  throne,  there  was  no  room  within  her 
dominions  for  the  exercise  of  Papal  prerogatives.  The 
religious  difficulties  of  her  reign  arose  partly,  perhaps 
chiefly,  because  she  was  devoid  of  anything  which  in 
charity  might  be  called  a  spiritual  faith.  But  she  had 
strong  opinions.  The  creed  which  in  1572  she  allowed 
Convocation  to  compile,  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  which  still 
find  a  place  in  the  Prayer  Book,  are  as  thoroughly  Pro- 
testant and  Evangelical  as  need  be.  As  theological  views, 
Elizabeth  regarded  them  with  more  or  less  indifference. 
But  in  the  outward  forms  of  worship  she  greatly  dis- 
appointed the  returning  Exiles.  She  blew  out  the  altar 
candles  when  worshipping  in  broad  daylight ;  elevating  the 
host  she  derided  as  an  idolatry.  She,  however,  demurred 
to  parting  with  any  of  the  ecclesiastical '  ornaments '  which 
added  to  the  showy  and  grandiose  character  of  public 
worship.  So  she  worried  her  bishops  by  retaining  an  '  ill- 


INTRODUCTORY  7 

omened '  idol,  a  silver  crucifix,  in  her  private  chapel ;  and 
desired  her  clergy  to  be  sumptuously  attired.  Cox,  when 
commanded  to  administer  the  sacrament  in  her  presence, 
tearfully  appeals  to  her  in  the  matter  of  the  *  idol  image ' ; 
but  his  appeal  was  in  vain.  Parker,  her  Archbishop,  found 
it  necessary  to  write  her  a  brief  treatise  on  idolatry.  '  She 
loved  magnificence  in  religion,'  says  old  Echard,  '  which 
made  her  inclinable  to  some  former  ornaments  and  even 
images  in  churches.' 

The  difficulties  of  the  situation  were  greatly  complicated 
by  the  diplomatic  use  she  made  of  the  religious  settlement 
of  the  country.  This,  and  her  own  value  as  a  marriageable 
party  were  her  chief  cards  in  the  deep  game  she  played  with 
the  two  strong  Catholic  powers  of  France  and  Spain.  And  in 
her  play  she  was  at  least  as  unscrupulous  as  her  opponents. 
Her  splendid  mendacity  almost  wins  from  us  a  sinister 
admiration.  Her  difficulties  were  admittedly  great.  The 
Vatican,  when  it  became  convinced  that  its  diplomats  could 
not  cajole  her,  for  she  beat  them  easily  at  their  own  game, 
excommunicated  her ;  freed  all  Catholic  subjects  from  the 
obligation  of  loyalty  to  her ;  and  never  ceased  urging  the 
combination  of  the  Catholic  powers  to  crush  her  as  a  heretic. 
Moreover  there  was  another  claimant  to  the  English  throne, 
a  woman  of  great  personal  fascination,  and  possessing,  for 
strict  Catholic  minds,  a  better  title  than  Elizabeth's.  For 
Henry's  divorce  of  Katherine  of  Aragon  and  his  marriage 
with  Anne  Boleyn  never  received  Papal  recognition.  Mary 
Stuart  was  therefore  a  threatening  personality  for  many 
years,  especially  during  the  life  of  her  husband,  the  Dauphin 
of  France.  Elizabeth  met  the  situation,  first,  by  her 
assumed  indecision  in  the  matter  of  religion — a  part  which 
she  was  qualified  to  sustain  by  her  natural  dislike  to  come 
to  a  final  decision  upon  any  subject ;  then,  in  due  time,  by 
her  long  and  discreditable  trifling  with  her  French  suitors, 
the  two  sons  of  Katharine  de  Medici.  When  France 
threatened,  she  knew  that  her  brother-in-law,  Philip  of 
Spain,  had  no  wish  to  see  his  neighbour  aggrandised  by  the 
possession  of  England.  And  she  was  able  to  deceive  the 


8  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

wily  Spanish  ambassador  by  the  assumed  frankness  with 
which  she  assured  him  that  the  Pope  would  not  think  so 
harshly  of  her,  if  only  he  knew  her  secret  heart !  When 
Spain  threatened,  at  once  her  amours  with  the  Duke  of 
Anjou  grew  warmer,  and  the  endless  marriage  negotiations 
were  once  more  renewed.  As  a  little  by-play  accompanying 
these  diplomatic  intrigues,  the  silver  crucifix  was  introduced, 
or  again  banished,  from  her  worship.  She  could  even  relight 
the  altar  candles  to  assist  in  a  diplomatic  deal. 

She  had  a  deep  political  conviction  that  the  strength  of 
her  kingdom  depended  upon  the  unity  of  all  classes  in  the 
profession  of  religion.  Was  there  an  arrangement  possible 
which  would  achieve  that  result  ?  a  modus  vivendi  which 
should  include  a  break  with  the  Papacy,  and  also  satisfy  the 
Protestant  reaction  following  the  cruelty  and  corruption  of 
Mary's  reign  ?  an  arrangement  whereby  men  of  intelli- 
gence might  read  the  New  Testament  and  yet  worship 
side-by-side  with  pacified,  but  not  converted,  Catholics  ? 
Elizabeth,  whose  natural  gifts  of  diplomacy  and  intrigue 
had  been  finely  sharpened  by  her  perilous  experiences  under 
the  rule  of  Mary,  thought  it  was  a  matter  to  be  managed 
by  a  measure  of  compromise  and  astute  arrangement.  The 
Mass  must,  though  with  hesitation,  go.  The  services  must 
be  in  the  mother  tongue.  Of  her  brother  Edward's  two 
Prayer  Books,  the  later  and  more  evangelical  should  supply 
the  general  liturgical  forms  and  the  articles  of  faith ;  the 
earlier  and  more  Catholic,  the  '  ornaments,'  including  the 
vestments  of  the  clergy.  Let  the  Protestants  reckon  up 
their  mercies,  the  real  and  substantial  changes  effected  in 
the  organisation  of  the  Church.  As  for  the  Catholics,  their 
attachment  was  to  a  form  of  worship.  They  had  never  been 
encouraged  to  think  and  argue ;  the  Latin  of  the  offices 
meant  little  or  nothing  to  them ;  their  priests  in  many  cases 
could  not  have  construed  the  text  of  the  creed.  And  when 
they  saw  their  old  parish  priests,  the  majority  of  whom 
conformed  and  kept  their  benefices,  going  about  their  busi- 
ness in  the  old  and  accustomed  garments,  they  would  suffer 
no  shock,  and  insensibly  fall  into  the  new  order.  Such 


INTRODUCTORY  9 

was  her  reasoning.  She  had  presently  to  learn  that  those 
of  her  subjects  who,  unlike  herself,  had  a  conscience  in  these 
things,  were  not  to  be  so  easily  managed. 

4.  The  Vestiarian  Controversy. — The  controversy  upon 
the  habits  to  be  worn  by  the  clergy,  which  raged  throughout 
the  early  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  no  new  issue.  It 
was  a  legacy  from  the  Protestant  martyrs.  John  Hooper, 
one  of  the  distinguished  victims  of  the  year  1555,  when 
appointed  under  Edward  to  the  See  of  Gloucester,  spent 
some  time  in  prison  because  he  '  scrupled  the  vestments.' 1 
Ridley,  the  chief  agent  under  Archbishop  Cranmer  in  the 
persecution  of  Hooper,  when  he  neared  his  martyrdom, 
changed  his  views  and  declared  the  priestly  apparel  to  be 
'  foolish  and  abominable,  yea  too  fond  for  a  Vice  in  a  play.' 2 
Old  Hugh  Latimer,  violently  disrobed  as  part  of  his 
'  degradation,'  said  with  a  touch  of  his  native  humour, 
'  Now  I  can  make  no  more  holy  water ' ;  an  adequate  com- 
ment on  the  proceeding.  Ferrar  of  St.  David's  openly 
showed  his  dislike  of  the  'Aaronic  habits.'  Rowland 
Taylor,  the  martyr  of  Hadley,  vestured  against  his  will  that 
he  might  be  officially  degraded,  '  set  his  hands  to  his  side 
walking  up  and  down ' ;  then  in  his  merry  way,  for  he  was 
a  wit  as  well  as  a  saint,  said  to  Bonner,  '  How  say  you,  my 
Lord  ?  Am  I  not  a  godly  fool  ?  How  say  you,  my  Master  ? 
If  I  were  in  Cheap[side],  should  I  not  have  boys  enough  to 
laugh  at  these  apish  toys  and  toying  trumpery  ? ' l  And  of 
the  same  mind  were  Cranmer,  John  Rogers,  Bradford,  and 
others. 

It  was  inevitable,  therefore,  when  Elizabeth  determined 
to  adopt  the  'ornaments'  as  in  the  Prayer  Book  of  1549, 
that  there  should  be  a  Vestiarian  controversy.  The  pos- 
sible difficulties  were  discussed  by  the  Exiles  before  their 
return.  During  the  early  months  of  her  reign,  when  the 
external  forms  of  worship  were  still  undetermined  by  Eliza- 
beth— for  the  '  settlement,'  whatever  divine  and  authoritative 
value  it  may  possess  for  ecclesiastical  disputants  to-day,  was 

1  Strype's  Cranmer,  i.  302  f. 
2  Foxc,  Acts  and  Mon.  vii.  543,  544.  3  lUd.  vi.  691. 


io  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

the  Queen's  own  settlement — strong  hopes  were  entertained 
that  a  clean  sweep  would  be  made  of  these  outward  badges 
of  the  old  persecuting  and  superstitious  Church.  That  they 
should  be  swept  away  was  probably  the  personal  wish  of  all 
the  bishops  first  appointed  by  Elizabeth ;  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Kitchen  and  Curwen,  who  had  changed  sides 
so  often  that  they  cannot  be  credited  with  having  had  any 
conscience  in  the  matter.  Miles  Coverdale,  the  eminent 
translator  of  the  Scriptures,  an  old  Edwardian  bishop,  and 
for  that  reason  one  of  those  who  took  part  in  ordaining 
Archbishop  Parker ;  John  Foxe,  the  martyrologist,  probably 
the  most  venerated  man  amongst  all  those  who  were  eligible 
for  high  office  in  the  Church ;  both  lived  in  poverty  and  neglect 
because  they  demurred  to  the  vestments.  Cox,  Grindal, 
Home,  Sandys,  Parkhurst,  Bentham,  all  about  to  be  appointed 
to  the  Episcopate,  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  in  the 
early  days  of  the  reign  to  exclude  outright  from  the  new 
ecclesiastical  settlement  all  the  Popish  vestments  and  cere- 
monies. Even  Matthew  Parker,  whose  hand  was  heavy  on 
those  who  refused  the  habits,  had  no  love  for  them.  John 
Jewell,  writing  to  Peter  Martyr,  puts  the  matter  vividly 
enough.  He  says,  'The  scenic  apparatus  of  divine  worship 
is  now  under  agitation ;  and  those  very  things  which  you 
and  I  have  so  often  laughed  at  are  now  seriously  and 
solemnly  entertained  ...  as  if  Christ's  religion  could  not 
exist  without  something  tawdry.  Our  minds  indeed  are 
not  sufficiently  disengaged  to  make  these  fooleries  of  much 
importance.' l  Writing  to  Bullinger  and  Lavater  as  late  as 
1566,  he  expresses  the  wish  'that  all  even  the  slightest 
vestiges  of  Popery  might  be  removed  from  our  churches, 
and  above  all  from  our  minds.' 2 

5.  The  '  Advertisments!  —  For  seven  or  eight  years 
vestiarian  conformity  was  not  rigidly  enforced.  The  diffi- 
culty of  filling  the  vacant  livings  with  suitable  ministers 
was  very  great.  Moreover  those  most  opposed  to  the  vest- 
ments were  amongst  the  most  earnest  and  successful  of  the 
clergy.  Considerable  irregularities,  both  in  this  respect  and 

1  Zur.  Lett.  i.  23.  2  Ibid.  i.  148. 


INTRODUCTORY  1 1 

also  in  regard  to  the  sign  of  the  cross,  the  interrogations  and 
the  answers  of  god-parents  at  baptism,  and  certain  other 
matters  prescribed  in  the  Prayer  Book,  were  expediently 
winked  at.  But  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1564  foreign 
affairs  were  once  more  becoming  critical.  Katharine  de 
Medici  had  temporarily  healed  the  internal  dissensions  in 
France,  and  a  conference  was  held  at  Bayonne,  whose  real 
purpose  was  to  afford  an  opportunity  to  the  statesmen  of 
France  and  Spain  to  devise  means  to  crush  the  Protestant 
powers.  Elizabeth,  apprehensive  of  the  result,  and  by  no 
means  averse  to  political  intrigue,  forthwith  took  her  place 
in  the  game ;  choosing,  as  many  times  before,  the  old 
Spanish  opening,  with  a  variation  which  also  was  not  new. 
She  revived  her  interest  in  King  Philip's  cousin,  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  of  Austria.  Guzman,  the  newly-appointed 
ambassador  from  Madrid,  soon  had  a  taste  of  her  quality, 
for  with  an  air  of  deep  sincerity  she  confided  to  him  that  at 
heart  she  was  a  Catholic.  So  deep  were  the  prejudices  of 
her  subjects,  owing  to  the  burnings  during  the  late  reign, 
that  it  was  necessary  to  hide  from  them  for  the  time  the 
true  state  of  affairs.  Guzman,  in  reply,  told  her  Majesty 
how  the  '  preachers f  were  slandering  her  on  account  of  the 
silver  crucifix.  With  considerable  spirit  she  replied  that 
she  would  have  crosses  —  that  is  crucifixes  —  in  all  the 
churches.  To  keep  up  the  game  it  was  necessary,  by  suit- 
able outward  action,  to  disavow  all  sympathy  with  the 
growing  demands  of  the  reformers,  and  in  this  counsel  she 
had  evidently  the  support  of  Cecil.  The  results  were 
serious  enough  to  those  who  were  to  be  her  counters  in  the 
play. 

In  the  beginning  of  1564-65  the  Queen  informs  Parker 
she  has  determined  upon  strict  uniformity  in  all  public 
services  in  the  churches.  The  Archbishop,  in  consultation 
with  the  Bishops  and  others,  must  ascertain  the  extent  of 
the  irregularities  existing  and  take  steps  to  remedy  these 
defects.  After  some  delay  injunctions  were  prepared  com- 
manding strict  adherence  to  the  prescribed  order  of  service. 
These  were  sent  to  Cecil  for  the  Queen's  signature.  But 


12  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

the  Queen  was  in  no  mind  to  bear  the  odium  which  should 
follow  the  action  she  desired.  The  men  likely  to  be  affected 
were  among  the  most  highly  esteemed  ministers  in  the  land ; 
they  were  loyal  of  the  loyal,  in  contrast  with  the  Papists 
who  were  ever  intriguing  with  the  foreigner.  Moreover, 
they  had  strong  friends  in  the  Council :  Sir  Francis  Knollys, 
the  Queen's  secretary  and  relative ;  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
her  lap-dog  cavalier ;  Walsingham,  the  astute  agent  of  her 
diplomacy ;  the  Earls  of  Bedford  and  of  Warwick ;  also 
Beale,  the  clerk  of  the  Council ;  these  and  others  were  per- 
sistent opponents  of  government  by  bishops.  Besides, 
Elizabeth  would  argue,  concerning  the  prelates,  these 
creatures  of  her  royal  will,  who  owed  their  places  and 
emoluments  solely  to  her  favour,  where  was  their  gratitude 
if  they  did  not  relieve  her  of  the  inconveniences  following 
upon  her  royal  caprice  ?  The  Queen  would  not  sign.  If 
the  '  book '  embodying  the  royal  will  be  not  sanctioned  by 
the  royal  hand,  says  the  fretting  Archbishop,  'all  that  was 
done  was  but  to  be  laughed  at.'  Later,  grown  desperate  by 
the  persistent  refusal,  he  writes  in  confidence  to  Cecil  that 
'  if  the  remedy  is  not  by  letter  [he]  will  no  more  strive 
against  the  stream,  fume  or  chide  who  will.'  After  some 
time  spent  in  trying  to  shift  the  responsibility  from  the  one 
party  to  the  other,  the  Archbishop  brought  the  matter  to  a 
head  by  publishing  the  well-known  Advertisments  indi- 
cating its  source  of  authority  in  the  title,  which  runs : 
Advertisments  partly  for  due  order  in  the  pullique  adminis- 
tration of  common  prayers  and  usinge  the  holy  Saeramentes, 
and  partly  for  the  apparrell  of  all  persons  ecclesiasticall  ly 
vertue  of  the  Queenes  majesties  letters  commanding  the  same, 
the  xxv  day  of  January,  etc} 

The  item  which  made  the  Advertisments  an  engine  of 
persecution  was  contained  under  the  head  of  'Articles  for 
doctrine  and  preachinge/  which  prescribed  '  that  al  licences 
for  preaching  graunted  out  by  the  Archebyshop  and  Byshopes 
w^n  the  province  of  Canterbury,  bearing  date  before  the 

1  B.M.— T.  775  (10),  4to,  B.L.,  15  pp.     This,  I  assume,  is  the  earliest 
edition.     It  is  characterised  by  the  spelling  of  the  word  'Advertisments.' 


INTRODUCTORY  13 

firste  day  of  marche  1564  be  voyde  and  none  effect' ;  but 
it  instantly  added  that  all  '  mete  for  the  office '  are  to 
be  readmitted  '  without  difficulty  or  charge/  paying  only 
iiij  pens  for  the  writinge,  parchement  and  waxe ' ;  but,  of 
course,  subscribing  to  the  order.  This  put  an  end  to  the 
old  toleration.  To  many  excellent  men,  including  moderate 
Nonconformists  such  as  Coverdale  and  Foxe, '  iiij  pens,'  plus 
subscription,  was  found  too  dear  a  price  to  pay.  In  the 
Preface  a  very  distinctively  eirenical  note  is  struck,  showing 
how  Parker  and  his  associate  bishops  were  driven  against 
their  will  by  the  commands  of  their  imperious  mistress.  At 
the  close  of  this  document  we  read  that  the  Queen,  while 
enforcing  them,  is  '  not  yet  prescribinge  these  rules  as  lawes 
equivalent  with  the  eternall  worde  of  God,  and  as  of  neces- 
sity to  bynde  the  consciences  of  her  subiectes  in  the  nature 
of  them  considered  in  them  selues :  Or  as  they  should  adde 
any  efficacye  or  more  vertue  of  publique  prayer  and  to  the 
Sacraments,  but  as  temporall  orders  meere  Ecclesiasticall, 
without  any  vayne  superstition,  and  as  rules  in  some  parte 
of  discipline  concerning  decency,  distinction,  and  order  for 
the  time.' 

The  last  phrase  '  for  the  time '  beguiled  the  hearts  of 
some  of  the  evangelical  ministers  with  false  expectations. 
The  tentative  character  of  the  regulations  for  public  worship 
had  been  a  '  door  of  hope '  since  the  days  of  Henry. 
Evidence  of  it  can  be  seen  in  the  Reformatio  Legum,  begun 
in  his  reign,  advanced  by  spasmodic  efforts  during  the  reign 
of  Edward,  revived  and  suppressed  under  Elizabeth.  The 
notable  pamphlet  A  Petition  directed  to  her  Majesty  [?  1590] 
directs  particular  attention  to  this  qualification  of  the  pre- 
scribed laws.  The  Bishops  first  appointed  no  doubt  enter- 
tained hopes  that  the  Popish  ceremonials  to  which  they 
objected  were  but  temporary  concessions  to  the  cautious 
and  diplomatic  policy  of  the  Queen.  Writing  to  Parker 
who  was  then  at  Cambridge,  not  having  yet  accepted  the 
primacy,  Sandys  says, '  The  last  book  of  service  [Edward  VI., 
1552]  is  gone  through  with  a  proviso  to  retain  the  orna- 
ments which  were  used  in  the  first  and  second  year  of 


14  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

King  Edward,  until  it  please  the  Queen  to  take  other  order 
for  them.'  He  then  adds  his  commentary.  '  Our  gloss 
upon  this  text  is,  that  we  shall  not  be  forced  to  use  them, 
but  that  others  in  the  meantime  shall  not  convey  them 
away,  but  that  they  may  remain  for  the  Queen.' l  One  of 
the  Plumbers'  Hall  Nonconformists,  in  a  letter  from  prison 
addressed  to  Grindal,  then  occupying  the  See  of  London, 
reminds  the  Bishop  how  he  had  said  in  a  sermon  that  '  he 
was  sorry  to  know  he  was  grieving  many  godly  consciences 
by  wearing  the  apparel,  requiring  his  auditory  to  have 
patience  for  a  time,  for  that  he  did  but  use  them  for  a  time, 
to  the  end  that  he  might  sooner  abolish  them.' 2 

It  was  a  vain  hope.  The  'seekers  after  reformation' 
began  at  once  to  suffer  from  the  new  stringency.  Thomas 
Sampson,  dean  of  Christ  Church,  and  Laurence  Humphreys, 
regius  professor  of  divinity  at  Oxford,  and  president  of 
Magdalen,  were  evicted  from  their  positions,  and  for  a  while 
were  prisoners  at  large  within  the  boundaries  of  London. 
But  it  was  in  London  that  the  ministerial  protest  against 
Popish  ceremonies  and  ornaments  was  most  powerful ;  and 
Parker  in  enforcing  the  uniformity  prescribed  in  the  Adver- 
tisments  had  in  the  city  the  additional  difficulty  that  Bishop 
Grindal  shirked  the  task ;  would  not  do  his  share  although 
a  younger  man  than  the  primate,  pretending  he  was  too 
busy  preparing  important  sermons  for  delivery  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross.  But  all  were  not  so  reluctant  to  persecute.  Arch- 
deacon Mullins  had  promptly  called  together  the  most 
influential  and  the  most  refractory  of  the  city  clergy 
immediately  on  the  first  receipt  of  the  Queen's  letter, 
inducing  about  a  hundred  to  conform,  eight  only  resisting. 
But  a  number  of  the  hundred  soon  after  broke  away  from 
the  understanding,  feeling  that  the  Archdeacon  had  some- 
what rushed  them  into  subscription.  And  for  a  while  after 
the  publication  of  the  Advertisments  no  serious  action  was 
taken ;  Parker  and  Grindal  had  some  suspicion  that  it  might 
subject  them  to  a  writ  of  premunire.  But  with  the  year 

1  Parker,  Correspond.  65. 
3  Neal,  Hist  of  the  Puritans,  i.  202. 


INTRODUCTORY  15 

1566  Parker  plucked  up  courage  to  proceed  with  the  dis- 
agreeable task.  On  the  26th  of  March  the  London  clergy 
were  summoned  to  Lambeth  before  the  primate  and  the 
Ecclesiastical  Commission.  One  Robert  Cole,  who  a  little 
while  previously  had  shown  his  contempt  for  the  vestments 
by  appearing  at  court  in  a  short  coat  and  hat,  now  thought 
better  of  his  rebellion,  and  appeared  before  the  company 
attired  in  canonical  garments  to  indicate  what  was  required 
of  them.  The  proceedings  were  very  peremptory.  'Ye 
that  will  presently  subscribe  write  Volo  ;  those  that  will  not 
subscribe  write  Nolo.  Be  brief ;  make  no  words  ! ' 

To  many  of  the  clergy  it  was  a  time  of  great  trial. 
Parker  reports  that  '  sixty-one  conformed ;  nine  or  ten  were 
absent ;  thirty-seven  denied,  of  which  number  were  the  best 
and  some  preachers.'  But  the  work  of  sequestration  and 
deprivation  went  on  without  faltering,  despite  Grindal's 
fears  of  the  spiritual  destitution  which  would  ensue.  Some 
few  found  shelter  behind  great  names ;  a  number  took  to 
secular  employments — Allen  and  Wyburn,  leading  men  in 
the  resistance,  became  farmers — and  many  who  had  wives 
and  children  were  reduced  to  dire  poverty.  The  com- 
plaisant, however,  were  suitably  rewarded  with  extra  livings 
and  benefices.  Robert  Cole  was  not  forgotten.  In  addition 
to  the  rectory  of  Bow  Church  already  held  by  him,  it  was 
thought  his  services  as  a  dummy  on  which  to  display  the 
vestments  deserved  the  additional  benefice  of  Allhallows  in 
Bread  Street. 

6.  Uniformity  and  Nonconformity.  —  The  significant 
result  of  the  enforcement  of  uniformity  was  the  creation  of 
Nonconformity.  English  Protestant  Nonconformity  may 
very  well  be  regarded  as  the  child  of  the  Advertisments ; 
augmented  by  each  of  the  subsequent  acts  of  uniformity, 
down  to  the  sinister  and  disastrous  edict  of  1662.  Much 
in  our  own  day  is  said  of  the  comprehensiveness  of  the 
State  Church.  In  regard  to  doctrine — a  matter  which  had 
to  wait  till  the  more  pressing  questions  of  the  external 
order  of  worship  and  the  garments  of  the  priests  should  be 
settled,— while  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  1562  are  of  an 


16  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

unquestionably  evangelical  character,  declaring,  for  instance, 
that  the  '  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  not  by 
Christ's  ordinance  reserved,  carried  about,  lifted  up,  or 
worshipped,'  and  describing  the  claims  on  behalf  of  the 
Mass  to  be  '  blasphemous  fables  and  dangerous  deceits,' 
yet  sufficient  designed  ambiguity  remains  to  admit  of  widely 
varying  interpretations  of  the  declarations  concerning  the 
sacraments  and  their  purpose.  Nor  is  it  by  any  means 
clear  what  '  ornaments '  are  those  of  the  first  Prayer  Book 
of  Edward  which  received  the  sanction  of  Parliament.  But 
having  diplomatically  settled  that  middle  course  of  worship, 
retaining  the  old  prelatical  orders  and  dignities,  herself  as 
'  supreme  governor '  replacing  the  headship  of  the  Pope,  and 
having  consented  to  the  Articles  of  Faith,  the  Queen  set 
before  her  mind  the  ideal,  not  of  comprehension,  but  of 
uniformity.  Her  standard  was  based  upon  politic  con- 
siderations ;  the  Tightness  or  wrongness  of  such  ecclesiastical 
dispositions  entered  nothing  into  her  plans  and  devices. 
She  chose  what  in  her  astute  and  cautious  judgment  was 
the  safest  way  by  which  to  travel,  after  repeatedly  weighing 
the  pertinent  facts,  domestic  and  foreign ;  the  bias  of  her 
own  inclinations  being  towards  a  regal  pomp  in  the  trap- 
pings and  etiquette  of  the  services  of  the  Church.  In  its 
results  her  policy  follows  the  invariable  law  governing 
attempts  to  restrict  the  play  of  life  and  progress  within 
human  institutions.  At  each  national  awakening  the  living 
forces  in  the  Church,  oppressed  by  a  rigid  law  of  uniformity, 
have  forsaken  her  courts,  while  she  has  become  the  refuge 
of  reactionaries.  In  the  great  struggles  for  liberty  and 
moral  and  social  progress  her  official  leaders  have  had  but 
little  to  say,  and  not  infrequently  have  been  found  in  the 
ranks  of  the  timid  obstructionists.  Nor  has  the  Church, 
by  its  successive  restricting  Acts,  succeeded  in  imposing 
uniformity  upon  its  priests.  When  the  more  consistent 
have  hived  off,  finding  in  liberty  and  poverty  conditions 
highly  favourable  to  their  development  and  growth,  the 
Church  founded  on  the  idea  of  exclusiveness  and  uniformity 
is  to-day  as  full  of  nonconformity  and  division  in  regard  to 


INTRODUCTORY  17 

dogma  and  ritual  as  in  the  clamorous  days  of  Elizabeth  and 
Archbishop  Parker.  In  order  to  enter  her  ministry  her 
candidates  must  subscribe  her  Articles ;  for  dogmatic  uni- 
formity is  her  law.  But  since  they  do  not  believe  them  in 
their  simple  grammatical  sense,  they  sign  them  with  mental 
reservation.  They  tacitly  consent  to  the  description  of  the 
Mass  as  a  '  blasphemous  fable  and  a  dangerous  deceit '  and 
then  practise  it.  Her  canons  forbid  certain  sacerdotal 
vestments ;  with  these  they  adorn  themselves.  This  course 
of  conduct  must  surely  tend  to  the  enfeebling  of  the  con- 
ceptions of  moral  integrity  in  public  life.  And  here  in 
1566  we  have  the  fateful  beginnings  of  the  process.  The 
Advertisments  demanded  uniformity ;  they  produced  Non- 
conformity. 

7.  The  Literature  of  the  Controversy. — Driven  as  they 
were  from  all  other  methods  of  uttering  their  protest,  the 
London  reforming  clergy,  with  the  strong  sympathy  of 
many  who  subscribed  with  pain  and  difficulty,  had  resort  to 
the  powerful  aid  of  the  press,  which,  of  course,  they  had  to 
use  secretly.  They  speedily  published  their  Declaration, 
whose  principal  title  ran :  A  brief e  discourse  against  the 
outwarde  apparell  and  Ministring  garmentes  of  the  popish 
church.  It  bears  no  author's  name,  and  is  dated  1566.  It 
is  prefaced  by  forty-eight  lines  in  rhyme,  which  begin — 

The  Popes  attyre  whereof  I  talke 

I  knowe  to  be  but  vaine  : 
Wherefore  some  men  that  wittie  are, 

to  reade  me  will  disdain. 

But  the  argument  of  the  prose,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  is 
somewhat  better  than  the  style  of  the  poetry.  The  conten- 
tion of  the  writer  is  that  the  London  ministers  refuse  to 
wear  the  '  garmentes  of  the  Popes  Church '  because  they  are 
not  to  edification ;  simple  Christians  are  offended  by  them, 
but  Papists  are  encouraged.  It  is  true  that  the  Advertis- 
ments declare  them  to  be  not  essential.  Their  use  is  there- 
fore to  be  defended  on  grounds  similar  to  those  employed 
for  the  retention  of  images ;  attendants  at  church  service 

C 


1 8  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

are  not  required  to  worship  them,  but  to  exercise  their 
strength  in  refraining  from  doing  so.  Why  have  them  at 
all  ?  Why  need  a  clergyman  be  dressed  differently  from 
other  men  ?  Think  of  the  illustrious  men,  some  of  them 
martyrs,  some  leading  Continental  reformers,  men  such  as 
the  great  English  apologist  John  Jewel,  who  have  declared 
against  their  use.  No,  they  will  not  recross  the  Red  Sea 
into  Egypt,  the  land  of  bondage. 

The  prelatical  reply,  the  Examination,  as  it  was  briefly 
named — A  briefe  Examination  for  the  tyme  of  a  certaine 
Declaration  lately  put  in  print,  etc. — which  came  forth 
anonymously,  about  May  1566,  but  bearing  the  imprint  of 
Jugge,  '  Printer  to  the  Queenes  Maiestie,'  gives  an  analysis 
of  the  Declaration.  Half  the  remaining  pages  are  occupied 
by  letters  written  by  Martyn  and  Bucer  advocating  com- 
promise. The  chief  contention  of  the  writer  is  that  the 
learned  men  are  all  against  the  Nonconformists,  who  are 
only  a  few  in  number,  and  the  chief  objectors  among  them 
are  those  that  have  been  brought  up  '  in  prophane  occupa- 
tions.' Strype  seems  rather  proud  to  claim  the  honour 
conjee turally  of  being  the  author  of  the  Examination,  for 
Archbishop  Parker.  But  as  the  Vindication  of  James 
Peirce  remarks,  it  reflects  little  credit  upon  the  primate, 
for  it  is  not  sparing  in  coarse  taunts  and  epithets.  The 
bitterness  of  ecclesiastical  controversy  is  frequently  regarded 
curiously  enough  as  a  characteristic  of  the  reform  pamphlets; 
it  is  an  opinion  that  probably  can  only  be  cured  by  reading 
the  pamphlets  of  the  period  indifferently.  Here  the  reader 
may  find  the  beginning  of  coarse  controversy.  It  received 
a  reply  probably  within  a  few  weeks,  in  an  Answere  for  the 
tyme,  published  anonymously.  The  author  denies  the 
claim  that  all  the  learned  are  on  the  side  of  the  Vestiarians. 
A  free  conference  would  show  that  a  '  gret  nomber  of  wise 
godlie  and  lerned  men  .  .  .  nevar  stayned  with  any  recanta- 
cion  or  subscription,  brought  upp  in  all  kinds  of  lerning, 
both  of  artes  and  toungs,'  foreigners,  as  well  as  Englishmen 
of  repute,  agreed  with  the  reformers,  and  '  of  them  partly ' 
had  they  '  lerned  this  judgment.'  As  for  men  of  '  pro- 


INTRODUCTORY  19 

phane  occupations '  becoming  ministers,  what  were  Peter 
and  Paul  and  all  the  Apostles  ?  Such  men  may  have 
godliness  and  ability,  but  the  Bishops  were  daily  filling 
the  churches  with  men  '  whom  nothing  ells  but  a  capp  and 
a  surples  do  make  commendable.'  Their  business  as 
Bishops  should  be  to  increase  the  workers  in  the  divine 
harvest,  and  not  to  deplete  the  number  for  the  sake  of  mere 
traditions. 

A  thoroughly  outspoken  pamphlet  by  Anthony  Gilby 
was  originally  published  in  this  connection,  entitled  A 
pleasaunte  Dialogue  Betweene  a  Souldior  of  Barwicke  [on 
Tweed]  and  an  Englishe  Chaplaine.  '  Father '  Gilby,  who 
was  held  in  great  esteem  by  the  evangelicals,  enjoyed  the 
patronage  and  protection  of  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon.  He 
was  assigned  the  authorship  of  a  slighter  pamphlet  entitled, 
To  my  louynge  brethren  that  is  troublyd  abowt  the  popishe 
apparall,  two  short  and  comfortable  Epistels.  Be  ye  constant : 
for  the  Lorde  shall  fyght  for  yow,  yours  in  Christ.  It 
appeared  with  a  companion  tract  which  had  for  its  title, 
To  my  faythfull  Brethren  now  afflycted  and  to  all  those  that 
unfaynedly  love  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Lorde  guyde  us  with  his 
holy  Spret  that  we  may  always  serve  hym  bothe  in  body  and 
mynde  in  all  synceryte  to  our  lyves  ende.  There  is  also 
extant  a  small  tract  of  eight  pages,  signatured  E  i.-iv.  as 
though  forming  part  of  a  series,  which  belongs  to  this 
discussion.  It  is  put  together  with  little  literary  skill.  Its 
title  is,  Grace  and  peace  with  al  maner  spiritual  feling  and 
living  worthi  of  the  Jcindnes  of  Christ  be  with  all  that  thrist 
[thirst]  the  will  of  God.  These  latter  pamphlets  besides 
repeating  the  arguments  against  the  vestments,  also  indicate 
that  the  refractory  '  seekers  after  reformation '  were  getting 
into  prison  and  needed  consolation. 

Of  an  entirely  different  character  to  the  previous  defence 
of  the  Episcopal  position,  scarcely,  indeed,  to  be  described 
in  any  measure  as  a  defence,  but  rather  a  conciliatory 
appeal  to  the  offended  reformers,  was  the  tract  entitled, 
A  brief  and  lamentable  consideration  of  the  apparel  now  used 
by  the  Clergy  of  England :  set  out  by  a  faithful  servant  of 


20  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

God,  for  the  instruction  of  the  weak.  It  appeared  late  in 
1566  or  in  1567,  and  from  the  tone  of  its  contents — Con- 
formist, but  outstandingly  Protestant — it  was  surmised  to 
have  been  written  by  Jewel  or  Cox ;  for  it  appeared  with- 
out author's  name.  It  is  doubtful  if  Cox  could  be  so 
conciliatory  even  to  *  weak '  and  ignorant  brethren ;  the 
temper  of  the  writing  bears  a  stronger  likeness  to  Jewel.  It 
is  an  appeal  to  reason  ;  for  no  apparel,  except  it  be  pompous, 
is  forbidden  by  the  word  of  God,  which  also  says  nothing 
against  the  sovereign  ordaining  a  meet  uniformity  of  dress 
for  all  her  clergy.  The  abuse  should  not  forbid  the  use  of 
anything.  '  Some  of  the  attyre  wherewith  the  mumbling 
Mass  hath  been  said '  is  abolished ;  the  remainder  cannot 
be  called  '  monuments  of  idolatry.' l 

Apart  from  its  argument  the  tract  reveals  the  condition 
and  attitude  of  the  newly -made  Nonconformists.  They 
have  forsaken  the  Churches  and  their  Popish  '  ornaments/ 
and  are  gathering  in  the  fields  for  the  worship  of  God ; 
setting  up  also  in  certain  of  their  houses  '  private  assemblies.' 
The  writer  seems  to  have  had  some  sagacity  in  reading  the 
signs  of  his  times,  and  to  have  foreseen  that  it  was  the 
beginning  of  an  ominous  rift ;  a  rift  which,  as  the  succeeding 
centuries  have  seen,  has  divided  England  ecclesiastically 
into  two  alien  camps.  Very  earnest  therefore  is  his  appeal 
to  those  who  have,  to  their  present  misery,  been  compelled 
to  subscribe  Nolo.  '  Idolatry  is  reproved ;  why  are  you  not 
contented  ?  Papistry  is  overthrown,  why  are  you  moved  ? ' 
They  might  well  have  answered  that,  moved  by  a  deeper 
instinct,  they  foresaw  that  the  germ  of  idolatry  and  the 
occasion  of  Papistry  being  left,  would  one  day  rise  up  again 
in  arrogance  and  power  within  the  Churches  that  had 
yielded  to  compromise.  Else  the  entreaty  of  the  writer 
is  somewhat  moving.  '  Concerning  such  as  wear  the 
apparel/  he  asks,  '  were  they  not  banished  [under  Mary] 
for  the  profession  of  the  Gospel  ?  Lost  they  not  therefore 
their  goods,  and  that  willingly  ?  .  .  .  Wherefore,  dear 
brethren,  join  hands ;  help  forward  the  Lord's  building : 

1  Strype,  Parker,  iii.  144. 


INTRODUCTORY  21 

let  us  be  faithful  labourers ;  for  we  have  of  proud  loiterers 
[Latimer's  phrase]  too  many.  To  work,  to  work ;  the 
harvest  is  great,  and  the  workmen  are  few  ! '  Excellently 
said,  indeed ;  but  a  sterile  appeal  all  the  same ;  for  the 
Episcopal  ideal  is  uniformity  and  not  comprehension. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  this  early 
discussion  was  the  receipt  of  a  letter  in  the  closing 
days  of  December  1566,  written  by  the  'superintendent 
ministers  and  commissioners  of  charges  within  the  realm 
of  Scotland,  to  their  brethren  the  Bishops  and  pastors 
of  England,  who  have  renounced  the  Roman  antichrist, 
and  do  with  them  profess  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
sincerity.'  The  letter  declines  discussing  the  question 
absolutely,  on  its  merits ;  but  it  reminds  the  Bishops  that 
they  '  cannot  be  ignorant  how  tender  a  thing  the  conscience 
of  man  is.  ...  Your  consciences  reclaim  not  at  wearing 
of  such  garments,  but  many  thousands,  both  godly  and 
learned,  are  otherwise  persuaded.  ...  If  surplice,  corner 
cap,  and  tippet  have  been  badges  of  idolaters  in  the  very 
act  of  their  idolatry,  what  have  the  preachers  of  Christian 
liberty,  and  the  open  rebukers  of  all  superstition,  to  do  with 
the  dregs  of  the  Romish  beast  ?  Our  brethren  that  of 
conscience  refuse  the  unprofitable  apparel,  do  neither  damn 
yours,  or  molest  you  that  use  such  trifles :  if  ye  shall  do 
the  like  to  them,  we  doubt  not  but  that  therein  ye  shall 
please  God.' l  The  reference  above  in  '  the  preachers  of 
Christian  liberty '  was  to  the  most  recent  tract,  which  up- 
braided the  anti  -  vestiarians  for  entrenching  upon  the 
liberty  of  those  who  chose  to  wear  the  vestments.  But 
the  whole  letter,  as  Neal  remarks,  is  conceived  in  an 
excellent  spirit,  and  must  have  made  some  at  least  of  those 
who  were  the  instruments  of  oppression,  exceedingly  un- 
comfortable. 

8.  The  Press  Censorship. — It  would  go  hard  if  a  public 
discussion  on  the  vestments  did  not  enlighten  the  people 
as  to  the  merits  of  the  case.  By  continuing  the  discussion 
the  Archbishop  stood  to  lose.  The  weakness  of  his  case 

1  Neal,  Hist.  v.  App.  II.  vi. 


22  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

was  partly  due  to  the  fact  now  widely  known  that  the 
Bishops  had  themselves  striven  hard  to  dispense  with  the 
'  garments  of  the  Amorites.'  *  We  who  are  now  bishops/ 
says  Grindal,  'on  our  first  return,  and  before  we  entered 
on  our  ministry  contended  long  and  earnestly  for  the 
removal  of  those  things  which  have  occasioned  the  present 
dispute.' *  Multitudes  were  now  familiar  enough  with  the 
contents  of  the  New  Testament,  and  had  satisfied  themselves 
that  by  its  authoritative  teaching  the  old  order  of  official 
and  sacrificing  priests  was  gone,  and  its  tailoring  and 
millinery  gone  along  with  it ;  nor  was  there  any  immediate 
and  popular  reply  to  the  plain  criticism  of  the  common 
people,  who  said  to  the  prelates  in  effect,  '  You  say  you 
have  given  up  the  cruel  Popish  creed  which  lit  the  fires  of 
Smithfield ;  but  when  you  were  away  in  exile  we  saw  the 
men  who  set  fire  to  the  faggots  dressed  in  garments  such 
as  you  are  now  wearing.  You  call  the  Pope  antichrist; 
why  do  you  wear  the  vestments  of  his  sacrificing  priests  ? ' 
The  appeal  to  '  decency  and  order '  was  flouted.  Why 
should  '  decency  and  order '  be  evermore  associated  with 
the  ceremonies  and  '  ornaments '  of  the  Pope's  Church  ?  It 
was  therefore  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  a  more  powerful 
argument. 

To  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  situation,  the  Queen's 
orders  were  obtained  to  further  restrain  the  press.  Already 
by  the  Injunctions  of  1559  (Art.  51),  no  printed  matter 
could  be  published  without  the  permission  of  the  Council 
or  of  the  Bishops.2  The  new  Injunctions,  issued  the  29th 
of  June  1566,  are  of  a  far  severer  character.  They  actually 
prohibit  the  publication  of  any  adverse  criticism  on  any 
law  or  statute,  or  any  edict  or  injunction  of  the  Queen  or 
issued  by  her  authority.  Offending  printers  lost  their 
licence  and  were  imprisoned  '  without  bail  or  mainprise,' 
and  every  one  concerned  in  the  production  or  in  the  sale 
of  an  unauthorised  publication  was  heavily  fined — half  the 

1  Zurich  Lett.  i.  169. 

2  The  article  is  quoted  by  Arber,  Sketch,  49.     The  injunctions  are  given 
in  extenso  in  Sparrow's  Collections  (1675),  p.  65  ;  and  in  Cardwell's  Docu- 
mentary Annals,  i.  178. 


INTRODUCTORY  23 

fine  going  to  the  informer.  The  Stationers'  Company  had 
rights  of  search  and  seizure.1  Such  an  injunction,  if 
enforced  effectively,  would  have  made  it  impossible  to 
obtain  any  further  reform  in  Church  or  State.  It  was  too 
oppressive  to  be  effective.  Laws  which  are  over-strict  and 
oppressive  when  applied  to  the  discipline  of  strong  races  do 
not  favour  obedience;  they  breed  defiance.  For  the  next 
twenty  years  the  secret  press  was  always  busy ;  although 
efforts  were  made  to  make  the  censorship  more  stringent  in 
1586,  at  the  instigation  of  Archbishop  Whitgift  and  his 
High  Commission,  by  confining  the  possession  of  printing 
presses  to  London,  and  one  each  and  no  more,  at  the  two 
Universities.  The  censors,  also,  were  to  be  the  Archbishop 
and  the  Bishop  of  London.  Civil  authorities,  it  was  found, 
could  not  be  relied  on  to  carry  out  with  thoroughness  the 
work  of  repression  and  persecution.2  The  edict  of  1586, 
however,  was  an  inefficient  instrument,  as  the  publication 
of  the  Marprelate  Tracts  proves.  And  less  daring  writings 
were  printed  secretly  throughout  the  reign,  either  at  home 
or  abroad. 

9.  A  Conventicle  at  Plumbers'  Hall. — A  number  of  the 
least  tractable,  though  perhaps  the  most  influential  of  the 
revolters,  were  divided  out  amongst  the  Bishops,  as  their 
prisoners,  but  were  released  before  long;  as  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  gaolers,  doubtless,  as  to  their  own.  But 
the  movement  continued  to  spread ;  and  the  next  year  we 
have  the  first  record  of  a  number  of  Separatists  being  sur- 
prised while  holding  a  '  conventicle ' ;  an  entry  which  was 
to  become  of  painful  frequency  during  the  remainder  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  and  under  the  Stuarts. 

On  the  19th  June  1567,  a  company  of  London  citizens 
and  their  wives,  in  all  about  a  hundred  persons,  assembled 
in  the  Plumbers'  Hall ;  ostensibly  to  celebrate  a  wedding  ;  but, 
in  fact,  as  the  Sheriffs'  officers  who  broke  upon  the  gather- 
ing found  out,  to  hear  a  sermon  and  to  celebrate  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Most  of  them  were  arrested  and  lodged  for  the 

1  Strype,  Life  of  Parker,  i.  442. 
2  Strype,  Whitgift,  i.  143.     For  the  rules  see  his  App.  III.  160  [No.  xxiv.]. 


24  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

night  in  the  Compter.     The  next  day  the  chief  of  them 
appeared  before  the  Bishop,  Dean  Goodman  of  Westminster, 
Archdeacon  Watts,  and  the  Lord  Mayor,  Sir  Roger  Martin.1 
From  their  examination  it  was  evident  that  the  prisoners 
represented  a  new  type  of  Nonconformist.      Intolerance  was 
weeding  out  the  weaker  elements  in  the  revolt,  and  by  a 
sterner  examination  of  their  premises,  making  the  revolters 
more  thorough  and  consistent  in  their  views.      These  men 
were  forming  the  left  wing  of  the  movement  and  were  the 
more  formidable  in  that  they  dropped  the  old  compromises 
and  freely  accepted  the  logic  of  the  situation.     They  went 
beyond  the  pitiful  complaint  against  elevating  the  '  host ' 
and  signing  the  cross  and  such  like ;  for  these  '  disliked  the 
whole  constitution  of  the  Church  lately  reformed.' 2     They 
were  of  no  mind  to  temporise  with  the  old  modified  prelacy ; 
to  them  the  Church  did  not  consist  of  its  ministry ;  far  less 
did  its  authority  belong  to  a  secular  court ;  to  appoint  a 
pastor  otherwise  than  through  the  choice  of  the   Church 
itself,  seemed  to  them  infringing  upon  the  prerogatives  of 
the  most  august  social  institution  in  the  world ;  one  was 
their  Master,  and  they  all,  ministers  and  people  alike,  were 
not    a    graded   aristocracy,   but    brethren.       They    saw   no 
successor  to  the  Fisherman  of  Galilee  in  the  gilded  Prelate 
seated  in  his  chariot,  preceded  by  out-riders,  and  followed 
by  a  cavalcade  of  richly  apparelled  servitors  and  men-at- 
arms  to  maintain  his  high  dignity. 

Grindal  was  very  patient  with  them  and  tried  to  win 
them  over  by  his  conciliatory  reasoning.  He  confessed  he 
had  performed  the  Mass,  but  he  was  sorry  that  he  had. 
His  prisoners  told  him  he  still  went  about  in  the  habits 
of  a  Mass  priest ;  but  he  demurred.  It  was  but  a  cope 
and  a  surplice  he  wore,  and  that  only  when  at  St.  Paul's. 
The  prisoners  acknowledged  that  they  had  used  an  un- 
authorised service  book,  but  they  made  an  almost  dramatic 
point  when  John  Smith,  '  the  ancientest  of  them,'  said  it 

1  The  names  of  the  prisoners  examined  before  this  court  can  be  seen  in 
Brook,  Lives,  i.  134,  sub  num.  '  R.  Hawkins.' 

2  Strype,  Grindal,  169. 


INTRODUCTORY  25 

was  the  book  used  by  the  secret  Church  in  London,  in  the 
terrible  days  of  Mary ;  the  Church  whose  honourable  but 
perilous  office  of  pastor  was  filled  by  Master  Bentham,  pro- 
moted by  the  Queen  to  the  See  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry, 
and  Master  Scory,  promoted  to  Peterborough.1  Shown 
Beza's  letter  by  the  Bishop,  they  replied  that  they  were 
well  acquainted  with  its  contents ;  that  it  told  against  the 
Bishops,  not  against  them.  In  the  end,  twenty-four  men  and 
seven  women  of  the  company  went  to  Bridewell.  Grindal 
made  every  effort  to  '  reclaim  them ' ;  but  in  vain.  He 
therefore  got  the  Council  to  discharge  them  with  a  warning. 
The  Bishop  estimated  the  number  of  this  section  of 
Nonconformists  in  and  about  London  to  be  about  two 
hundred  ;  of  whom  there  were  more  women  than  men.  It  is 
probably  an  under-estimate.  He  represents  them  as  citizens 
of  the  lowest  order,  with  whom  were  associated  four  or  five 
ministers,  remarkable  neither  for  their  judgment  nor  for 
their  learning ;  an  account  which  reads  like  an  extract  from 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  He  reports,  as  something  out- 
rageous, that  they  openly  separated ;  meeting  and  ad- 
ministering the  sacraments  '  in  private  houses,  sometimes  in 
the  fields,  and  occasionally  in  ships.'  But  the  head  and 
front  of  their  offending  was,  that  *  they  ordained  ministers, 
elders  and  deacons,  after  their  own  way,  and  have  even  ex- 
communicated some  who  had  seceeded  from  their  church.' 2 
They  were  by  no  means  to  be  won  over  by  the  authority  of 
great  names ;  even  to  be  told  that  all  the  learned  in  Europe 
were  against  them  did  not  suffice.  The  '  auncient  man ' 
John  Smith  said,  '  We  revere  the  learned  at  Geneva  and  in 
all  other  places.  Yet  we  build  not  our  faith  and  religion 
upon  them.'  '  But  who/  asked  Goodman, '  will  you  have  to 
judge  the  word  of  God  ? '  Robert  Hawkins  replied,  '  That 
was  the  cavil  of  the  Papists  in  the  time  of  Queen  Mary. 
I  have  myself  heard  them  say,  when  the  truth  was  defended 
by  the  word  of  God,  Who  shall  judge  the  word  of  God  ? 

1  Fowle,  John  Rough  the  martyr,  Bernher,  Latimer's  faithful  Swiss,  also 
held  this  dangerous  post.      See  Strype,  Mfii/or/'cds,  ill.  ii.  132. 

2  Zur.  Lett.  i.  210  ;  date,  June  llth,  1568. 


26  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

The  Catholic  Church  must  le  the  judge' x  It  was  evident 
that  these  Separatists  intended  to  cleave  to  the  right  of 
private  judgment. 

10.  The  Attitude  of  the  Romanists  and  National  Progress. 
— The  national  weakness  induced  by  the  scandalous  mis- 
government  of  the  three  previous  reigns,  never  more 
flagrant  than  during  the  Spanish -Catholic  regime  under 
Mary,  was  sufficiently  remedied  by  the  year  1570  to  enable 
the  Queen  to  assume  a  more  independent  attitude  in  her 
diplomacy  than  hitherto  her  prudence  permitted  her  to 
assume.  The  peril  of  the  initial  period  of  her  reign  was 
successfully  weathered;  thanks  to  Elizabeth's  frugality  and 
the  prompt  action  of  Cecil  and  the  able  men  associated 
with  him,  in  restoring  the  fleet  and  the  national  means 
of  defence.  Many  other  things  had  contributed  to  the 
position  of  advantage  now  occupied  by  Elizabeth ;  not  least 
among  them  the  action  of  the  Eomanists  within  her  own 
borders.  They  were  representatives  of  an  alien  system, 
subjects  of  a  foreigner  who  claimed  a  temporal  as  well  as  a 
spiritual  jurisdiction ;  and  from  time  to  time  little  facts 
transpired,  which  showed  that  a  section  of  them,  at  least, 
were  traitors.  The  '  Rising  in  the  North '  was  an  untimely 
splutter ;  badly  managed,  where  even  the  cleverest  general- 
ship would  have  nothing  availed.  If  anything  were  want- 
ing to  make  Catholicism  impossible  it  was  the  effrontery 
of  Pius  V.  in  promulgating  his  bull  of  excommunication 
against  Elizabeth,  in  February  1570.  One  Eelton  affixed 
it  to  the  town  house  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  for  his 
pains  became  a  Catholic  martyr.  By  the  terms  of  this 
bull  the  subjects  of  Elizabeth  were  '  absolved  from  the  oath 
of  allegiance  and  every  other  thing  due  unto  her  what- 
soever; and  those  which  from  henceforth  obey  her  are 
innodated  [bound  up]  with  the  anathema.'  In  various 
parts  of  the  country  copies  of  this  traitorous  document  were 
distributed.  No  function  could  be  more  popular  with  the 
people,  however,  than  a  gathering  to  see  it  burnt  by  the 
common  hangman.  Many  Catholics  who  shared  the  rising 

1  Brook,  Lives,  138,  142. 


INTRODUCTORY  27 

enthusiasm  in  the  growing  strength  and  greatness  of  their 
native  land,  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  Pope.  The 
spirit  of  nationalism  is  naturally  unfavourable  to  the 
domination  of  Popery.  An  attempt  at  a  Catholic  rising  in 
Norfolk  aroused  only  the  contempt  and  derision  of  the 
country.  For  many  years,  as  a  rejoinder,  the  date  of  the 
Queen's  accession  (Nov.  27)  was  celebrated  by  the  populace 
with  great  rejoicing  and  festivity.  The  Pope's  bull  deepened 
the  people's  loyalty.  Nor  was  there  at  this  juncture  much 
to  be  feared  from  the  two  Catholic  powers.  Spain  with 
the  revolt  in  the  Netherlands  had  her  hands  full.  France 
was  once  more  torn  by  an  internecine  struggle.  Elizabeth 
could  look  around  her  with  greater  calm  and  composure 
than  at  any  time  since  she  ascended  the  throne. 

The  Council  of  Trent  closed  its  protracted  sessions  in 
1563.  It  gave  expression  to  the  extremer  views  of  the 
Jesuit  party  and  the  reactionaries  of  the  Counter- Reforma- 
tion. It  imposed  also  a  more  rigorous  discipline  upon  the 
clergy.  So  recklessly  profligate  had  the  priesthood  been, 
from  the  Pope  downwards,  that  it  was  counted  an  occasion 
for  thankfulness  that  henceforward  the  celibate  priesthood 
should  be  compelled  to  live  decent  moral  lives.  In  England 
we  learn  from  Jewel  of  the  moral  turpitude  of  the  digni- 
taries who  under  Mary  condemned  and  burnt  Cranmer,  Ridley, 
and  Latimer.1  What  the  morals  of  the  common  priesthood 
were  it  is  needless  to  inquire.  It  was  a  matter  of  serious 
complaint  in  Wales  that  the  parish  priests,  who  in  almost  all 
cases  were  the  old  Popish  priests  '  converted  '  to  the  Queen's 
religion,  although  the  Queen  had  consented  to  the  marriage  of 
priests,  were  continuing  to  live  in  pensionary  concubinage. 

The  discussions  at  Trent  had  stimulated  the  English 
Bishops  to  formulate  Articles  of  Faith  for  their  own  Church. 
These  were  drafted  chiefly  by  Parker,  upon  the  basis  of  the 
Forty-two  Articles  of  1553,  drawn  up  by  Cranmer  and 
Ridley.  So  far  as  they  went  they  were  an  advance  in  the 
Protestant  direction  upon  the  Edwardian  Symbol.2  Article 

1  Zur.  Lett.  i.  12. 
2  See  esp.  articles  xxviii.  and  xxix.  on  the  Lord's  Supper. 


28  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

xx.  is  a  new  feature  in  the  compilation  of  1563.  It 
claims  for  the  English  Establishment  power  to  decree  rites 
and  ceremonies,  and  authority  in  controversies  of  the  faith. 
Its  origin  has  led  to  much  discussion.  The  conclusion 
generally  arrived  at  is  that  it  was  introduced  by  the 
Queen,  then  rejected  by  the  Bishops.  But,  as  in  all  her 
dealings  with  the  Bishops,  the  Queen  here  also  compelled 
their  acquiescence  in  her  will.  Not,  however,  till  1571 
were  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  sanctioned  by  the  Queen  and 
Parliament ;  and  then  only  after  the  most  humble,  almost 
grovelling,  entreaty  on  the  part  of  the  Archbishop  and 
Bishops.1 

11.  The  Queen's  Suitors. — The  courtships  of  Elizabeth 
form  one  of  the  least  creditable  chapters  in  her  history,  nor 
would  they  merit  any  notice  in  our  present  connection, 
except  that  she  used  these  episodes  as  elements  in  her 
diplomatic  game  with  the  Catholic  powers,  and  modified 
her  ecclesiastical  policy  at  home  so  as  to  aid  her  in  her 
high-political  intrigue.  About  1570  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
heir-presumptive  to  the  crown  of  France,  then  worn  by  his 
brother  Charles,  came  on  the  scene  in  the  character  of  a 
suitor.  He  must  have  been  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth 
aspirant  to  the  Queen's  hand.  Anjou  was  a  tool  of  his 
crafty  mother  Katharine  de  Medici.  But  that  renowned 
European  diplomat  was  deluded  by  the  master -craft  of 
Elizabeth.  Even  sapient  old  ambassadors,  as  full  of  guile 
as  their  skin  could  hold,  chosen  by  France  and  Spain  for 
their  sinister  gifts  after  that  sort,  were  trifled  with  in  a 
manner  which  the  victims  thought  shocking  when  they  dis- 
covered the  deception.  They  entered  with  fresh  zest  upon 
the  marriage  negotiations,  because,  forsooth,  they  knew  that 
Elizabeth  now  meant  it  seriously.  They  looked  forward  to 
her  reconciliation  speedily  with  the  Vatican ;  Monsignor 
assured  his  royal  master  that  at  heart  she  was  as  sound  a 
Catholic  as  himself;  and  all  Europe  knew  him  to  be  a 
zealot.  Nor  can  we  have  the  slightest  compassion  for  these 
dupes  of  the  Queen.  They  were  merely  beaten  by  a  woman 

1  Park.,  Corresp.  292  ;  White,  Eliz.  Bps.  47. 


INTRODUCTORY  29 

at  their  own  game.  Nothing  was  farther  from  Elizabeth's 
mind  than  to  subject  herself  to  the  suzerainty  of  the  Pope ; 
nor  had  she  ever  any  serious  intention  of  marrying  any  one 
of  the  long  procession  of  wooers  who  visited  her  court. 
Some  she  dismissed  summarily.  But  when  the  sons  of 
Katharine  de  Medici  came  on  their  amorous  quest,  the 
game  was  closer,  and  needed  a  deeper  display  of  guile. 
Fortunately  for  himself,  the  overtures  of  the  Duke  of  Anjou 
were  not  greatly  prolonged,  owing  to  the  death  of  his  brother 
Charles.  When  he  ascended  the  throne  Elizabeth's  pro- 
crastination could  not  be  further  tolerated,  so  Francis  mated 
elsewhere.  But  Katharine  had  another  son,  the  Duke  of 
Alenqon.  Some  demur  was  raised  on  this  side  of  the 
Channel  owing  to  his  youth ;  but  it  was  shown  to  be  no 
incompatibility.  On  the  whole  he  was  said  by  his  friends 
to  be  a  likely  young  man,  though  slightly  pock-marked. 
Elizabeth  managed  to  keep  him  dangling  about  until  he 
died  in  1584.  When  Spain  was  threatening,  and  it  was 
needful  to  keep  France  very  friendly,  the  attachment  grew 
warmer.  She  exchanged  rings  with  him,  and  kissed  him 
openly  before  the  members  of  her  court.  No  doubt  she 
had  a  taste  for  indiscreet  if  not  risky  philandering,  such  as 
she  had  indulged  in  as  a  girl  with  Sir  Thomas  Seymour,  and 
in  her  early  womanhood  with  Dudley.  But  it  is  certain 
that  she  never  intended  marrying  Anjou,  who,  poor  fool, 
played  his  part  to  the  end  sincerely  enough.  For  twelve 
years  Elizabeth  had  used  him  partly,  perhaps,  as  a  diver- 
sion, but  chiefly  as  a  tool  in  her  diplomacy;  and  when  he  died 
and  the  farce  was  ended,  she  had  the  consummate  assurance 
to  write  to  his  mother  that  her  own  consolation  lay  only  in 
the  prospect  of  death,  when  she  might  once  more  rejoin 
him.1 

There  was  a  time,  however,  during  the  year  1570,  when 
even  her  own  ministers  were  deceived.  So  imminent  did 
they  believe  the  marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Alen^on  that 
ambassador  and  ministers  were  busy  haggling  over  the 
marriage  settlements,  gravely  stipulating  as  to  the  disposi- 

1  Hume,  Courtships  of  Eliz.  331. 


30  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

tion  of  any  possible  issue  of  the  union,  Elizabeth  being 
then  forty-six  and  the  Duke  still  under  thirty.  The  people 
of  this  country  grew  excited  at  the  prospect.  Her  marriage 
with  any  foreigner  was  sincerely  disliked.  The  Puritans 
saw  in  d'Alen^on  only  the  son  of  Katharine,  and  Katharine 
they  credited  with  a  principal  responsibility  for  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Very  vigorous  expression 
was  given  to  their  views  in  Thomas  Stubbe's  Gaping  Gulph. 
The  writer  recorded,  in  undiluted  fashion,  the  scandalous 
rumours  about  the  physical  and  moral  defects  of  Alenqon 
and  all  his  family ;  warned  the  country  of  the  army  of 
French  parasites  that  would  come  over  with  him  to  feed 
upon  the  greenness  of  the  old  English  oak ;  '  these  needie 
spent  Frenchmen  of  Monsieur's  traine,  being  of  the  contrary 
religion,  and  who  are  the  scomme  of  the  king's  court,  which 
is  the  scomme  of  Europe,  when  they  seeke  like  horseleaches, 
by  sucking  upon  us,  to  fill  their  beggarly  purses  to  the 
satisfying  of  theyr  bottomlesse  expence.'  But  the  chief 
offence  of  the  tract,  beyond  doubt,  was  its  plain  discussion 
of  the  danger  to  a  woman  of  the  Queen's  years  of  bearing  a 
child,  as  she  would  learn,  if  she  consulted  '  hir  faythfulest 
wyse  physitians.' 

Elizabeth's  action  on  the  appearance  of  the  Gaping  Grulph 
was  brutally  vindictive.  She  had  Page,  the  publisher,  and 
Stubbe  indicted  under  an  old  Act  of  Philip  and  Mary,  and 
then  condemned  to  have  their  right  hands  chopped  off. 
The  statute  was  of  very  doubtful  application  to  the  case, 
although  renewed  under  the  general  covering  Act  passed  at 
the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign ;  for  it  was  of  a  purely 
personal  character,  passed  for  the  protection  of  the  hated 
Spanish  Papist.  Nevertheless  the  sentence  was  carried  out 
on  a  stage  at  Westminster.  Stubbe  addressed  a  sympathetic 
crowd  of  spectators ;  with  a  sad  humour  he  asked  for  their 
prayers  '  nowe  my  calamitie  is  at  hande.'  He  managed  to 
lift  up  his  bleeding  stump  and  cry  out, '  God  save  the  Queen.'  * 

1  The  earliest  enactment  on  this  subject  is  the  statute  "Westm.  1.  cap.  3 
(3).  Its  terms  may  be  briefly  quoted.  '  From  henceforth  none  to  be  so 
hardy  to  tell,  publish,  or  counterfeit  any  false  newes  or  tales,  whereby 


INTRODUCTORY  31 

Section  II. — A  House  divided  against  Itself 

1 .  Episcopal  Rearrangements. — With  the  opening  of  1 5  7  0 , 
while  on  the  one  hand  the  forces  which  make  for  civil  and 
religious  liberty  are  hardening  themselves  for  a  more  resolute 
attack  on  the  vested  interests  of  intolerance  and  corruption, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Archbishop  and  his  associates  deter- 
mine upon  a  more  vigorous  attack  upon  the  nonconforming 
members  of  the  clergy  and  their  lay  abetters.  The  failure 
of  the  attempts  to  coerce  the  antivestiarians  was  only  too 
plain.  The  rebellious  movement  was  growing  in  town  and 
country.  The  Archbishop  concluded  that  it  was  no  time  to 
dally  with  the  movement. 

Parker  naturally  ascribed  much  of  the  failure  of  his 
policy  to  the  want  of  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  Bishop 
of  London.  Grindal,  though  he  embittered  the  reforming 
class  more  than  enough  by  such  measures  of  coercion  as  he 
weakly  consented  to,  his  real  convictions  being  so  well 
known,  nevertheless  in  Parker's  view  was  a  mere  trifler 
in  the  work  of  persecuting  intractable  evangelicals.  It 
was  necessary,  therefore,  to  remove  him  out  of  the  way  if 
severer  methods  were  to  be  successfully  taken  against  the 
'  precisians,'  as  Parker  was  wont  to  call  them.  Grindal  was 
therefore  promoted  to  the  archbishopric  of  York.  In  the 
north  his  principal  difficulty  would  be  with  recusant 
Romanists ;  to  use  the  terrors  of  the  law  to  suppress  them 
was  not  so  averse  to  his  convictions. 

discord  or  matter  of  discord  or  slander  may  grow  betweene  the  King  and  his 
people,  or  the  great  men  of  the  realme.'  The  defence  of  the  slanderer  would 
naturally  be  that  the  slander  was  told  him  by  another,  and  there  is  a  quaint 
oriental  justice  in  letting  him  lie  in  limbo  till  he  or  his  friends  have  pro- 
duced that  other  person.  This  old  Act  was  revived  and  extended  as  the  1 
and  2  P.  &  M.  cap.  3  under  the  heading  'Newes.'  It  was  made  to  cover 
the  since-discovered  art  of  printing  ;  also  to  apply  to  attempts  to  stir  up 
insurrection.  But  the  chief  difference  between  the  original  Act  and  its 
renewal  under  Philip  and  Mary  lies  in  the  penalties  attached  to  the  latter, 
which,  besides  ruinous  fines,  included  the  mutilation  of  the  ears  and  hands. 
By  1  Eliz.  cap.  7  the  Act  was  extended  to  the  person  of  the  Queen.  A 
judge  of  Common  Pleas  having  asserted  that  the  Act  of  Philip  and  Mary  as 
renewed  under  Elizabeth  did  not  apply  to  Stubbe's  case,  was  sent  to  the 
Fleet  Prison,  and,  refusing  to  retract,  was  removed  from  the  bench.  See 
Camden's  Annals  (1625),  bk.  iii.  14-16. 


32  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

The  choice  of  his  successor  in  the  See  of  London  was,  no 
doubt,  a  matter  of  much  anxiety  to  the  Archbishop.  The 
choice  fell  upon  Bishop  Sandys. 

Edwin  Sandys  had  given  sufficient  proof  of  his  Pro- 
testant convictions  by  participating  in  the  Lady  Jane  Grey 
conspiracy.  But  from  his  prison  he  so  successfully  pro- 
tested his  innocence  that  Bonner  released  him.  Bonner 
was  a  very  short  time  in  discovering  that  he  had  made  an 
error  in  releasing  so  thorough-going  a  Protestant.  He 
therefore  ordered  his  rearrest.  His  pursuivants  tracked 
Sandys  to  the  Channel,  only  to  see,  bounding  over  the 
waves,  the  ship  that  bore  him  to  freedom.  In  his  exile  he 
spent  some  time  with  the  advanced  Zuinglian  reformers  of 
Zurich.  Returning  home  on  the  death  of  Mary,  he  was  one 
of  the  most  zealous  for  the  complete  purification  of  the 
Church  from  all  Papistry.  His  letter  to  Parker  on  the 
vestments  has  already  been  quoted.  He  greatly  laments 
the  idol  crucifix  in  the  Queen's  chapel ;  but  has  the  satisfac- 
tion of  telling  his  Zurich  correspondent  that  when  acting  as 
visitors  in  the  north  he  and  his  colleagues  not  only  tore 
down  all  images,  but  also  burnt  them.  '  Only  the  Popish 
vestments  remain  in  our  Church,'  he  says,  and  these  he 
hopes  not  for  long.1  These  are  not  the  qualifications  which 
would  indicate  that  Sandys  was  a  suitable  agent  to  harry 
and  persecute  men  whose  desire  also  was  to  deliver  the 
Church  from  the  remnants  of  Popery,  especially  the  '  Popish 
vestments.'  Yet  no  sooner  was  he  well  settled  in  the 
diocese  of  Worcester  than  the  Archbishop  has  to  remon- 
strate with  him  for  his  excess  of  severity.  His  reply  was 
that  since  he  was  under  the  yoke  himself,  for  no  doubt  he 
detested  these  things  in  his  heart,  he  was  resolved  his 
people  should  'draw  in  the  same  yoke'  with  him.2  It  is 
true  he  was  equally  forward  in  coercing  the  Romish 
recusants.  His  measures  of  reprisal  on  hearing  of  the  St. 
Bartholomew's  Massacre  were  not  wanting  in  vigour.  They 
began,  '  Forthwith  to  cut  of[f]  the  Scottish  Queenes  head.' 3 

1  Zur.  Lett.  i.  74.  2  Ibid.  126  ;  see  esp.  White,  Eli::.  Bps.  99. 

3  White,  103  ;  Ellis,  Orig.  Lett.  (2nd  Ser.)  iii.  25. 


INTRODUCTORY  33 

Still  the  cases  of  the  delinquents  were  not  quite  parallel. 
The  Roman  Church  had  been  abolished  by  reason  of  her 
barbarity  and  corruption ;  nor  could  her  followers,  since  the 
promulgation  of  the  bull  denouncing  Elizabeth,  be  loyal 
citizens  of  the  realm,  except  by  ceasing  to  be  loyal  subjects 
of  the  Pope.  But  the  Puritans,  whom  Sandys  proceeded 
to  persecute  without  allowance  of  mercy,  suffered  only  for 
convictions  which  he  secretly  held  himself. 

2.  The  New  Policy  in  Operation. — Promptly  on  January 
10th,  1571,  the  new  Bishop  of  London  held  his  primary 
visitation,  at  which  he  straitly  charged  his  clergy  to  con- 
form  in   every  particular   to   the   standard   of  the  Prayer 
Book.      The   old   '  tolerations,'   under  which   the   irregular 
ministrations  of  men  like  Coverdale,  Foxe,  Humphreys,  and 
Sampson  were  winked  at,  were  called  in.     Even  the  Romish 
service  at  the  house  of  the  Portuguese  ambassador,  which  a 
few  Catholics  furtively  attended,  must  be  suppressed.      If 
Burleigh  will  give  his  consent,  my  lord  Bishop  will  put  an 
end   to   this   '  idolatry '   and  bring  to  a   suitable   frame  of 
mind  the  '  proud  Portingale '  himself.1       But  two  years  of 
this  '  stirring  and  stout '  policy  disillusioned  him.      By  that 
time  his  high  robustious  tone  has  evaporated.       The  sons  of 
Zeruiah  have  been  too  many  for  him.       He  wants  further 
powers ;   Field  and  Wilcox,  both  just  released  after  their 
year's  imprisonment,  Cartwright,  and  some  others,  who  are 
esteemed  as  gods,  must  be  banished  far  from  the  city.      Of 
himself  he  writes, '  Our  estimation  is  little ;   our  authority 
less.      So  that  we  are  become  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of 
the  basest  sort  of  people.'  2      He  is  discovering  the  vice  of 
coercion ;   it  is  evermore  clamouring  for  a  few  more  faggots 
to  cast  upon  the  fire,  only  in  the  end  to  find  that  there  is 
in  the  human  conscience  a  divine   stubbornness  which  is 
able  to  defy  oppression. 

3.  TJie  Puritan    Counter -movements. — The  advocates   of 
reform  determined  to  oppose  the  fresh  outbreak  of  Episcopal 
persecution  by  strictly  constitutional  methods.     Therefore, 

1  Strype,  Annals,  n.  i.  315. 
2  Strype,   Whitgift,  iii.  33,  34. 


34  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

at  the  Convocation  which  assembled  at  the  beginning  of 
April  1571,  Gilbert  Alcock,  a  member  of  the  Lower  House, 
earnestly  besought  that  a  more  lenient  treatment  should  be 
meted  out  to  their  brethren  who  '  scrupled  the  vestments,' 
and  had  one  or  two  other  difficulties  in  obeying  the  cere- 
monies as  prescribed.  Alcock's  efforts  met  with  a  sorry 
result.  In  place  of  hearing  his  prayer,  more  rigorous 
canons  were  framed,  demanding  subscription,  not  only  to 
the  contents  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  but  also  to 
the  '  little  book,'  the  '  pontificall,'  as  the  reformers  in  their 
hatred  named  it,  containing  the  order  for  the  ordaining  of 
priests  and  bishops. 

The  reformers  also  sought  the  help  of  Parliament.  In 
the  House  of  Commons  they  met  with  more  sympathy. 
The  layman  is  less  inclined  to  find  edification  in  a  routine 
of  priestly  ceremonies  or  in  a  display  of  priestly  garments. 
To  the  male  mind  these  latter  always  seem  a  piece  of 
effeminacy.  In  the  Parliament  of  1568,  Strickland,  an 
ancient  member  of  the  Commons'  House,  had  introduced  a 
Bill  for  the  further  reformation  of  the  Church,  and  found  a 
sympathetic  audience  for  the  lengthy  speech  in  which  he 
commended  his  proposals  to  abolish  the  superstitious 
elements  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism ;  to  redress  the 
scandal  of  Papists  exercising  ecclesiastical  government  and 
holding  great  livings ;  of  boys  after  the  old  Popish  corrup- 
tion being  dispensed  to  spiritual  promotion,  their  fathers 
receiving  the  emoluments  and  starveling  curates  filling  the 
offices ;  of  granting  faculties  to  notoriously  incapable  men, 
and  of  authorising  pluralism.  The  cautious  Cecil  saw  danger 
ahead.  If  there  were  errors  in  doctrine,  he  said,  they 
should  be  remedied  presently ;  ceremonies,  however,  were 
to  be  referred  to  the  Queen,  '  who  had  authority,  as  chief  of 
the  Church,  to  deal  therein.'  The  House  adjourned  for 
Easter,  and  her  Majesty,  greatly  disliking  the  interference 
of  the  Commons  with  'matters  above  their  capacity/  had 
the  ancient  Strickland  summoned  before  the  Privy  Council. 
No  definite  judgment  was  passed  upon  him,  but  when  the 
House  resumed  its  sittings  on  Friday  in  Easter  week, 


INTRODUCTORY  35 

Strickland  was  absent,  he  having  been  tentatively  pro- 
hibited from  taking  his  seat.  Great  as  was  their  loyalty,  the 
members  openly  resented  this  gross  violation  of  their  rights. 
The  gravity  of  the  situation  was  recognised  by  the  Lord 
Treasurer,  who  in  conciliatory  tones  assured  the  House  that 
1  the  man  that  meant  was ' — Strickland's  name  had  not 
been  mentioned — was  suffering  no  ill-usage,  nor  was  his 
absence  owing  to  his  speech  ;  but  to  the  Bill  which  infringed 
the  Queen's  prerogative. 

This  explanation  little  suited  the  temper  of  the  House, 
as  was  at  once  seen  from  the  bold  speech  of  Yelverton,  a 
leading  personality  among  the  members.  '  The  precedent 
was  perilous/  he  declared.  The  House  was  competent  to 
discuss  any  matter  short  of  treason.  It  had  even  plenary 
power  to  determine  the  right  of  the  Crown  ;  to  say  otherwise 
were  high  treason.  '  The  prince  could  not  of  herself  make 
laws :  neither  might  she  for  the  same  reason  break  laws.' 
There  were  mingled  counsels  following  this  brave  speech ; 
but  the  general  current  of  opinion  ran  strongly  in  favour  of 
further  discussing  the  corruptions  existing  in  the  Church. 
And  as  they  assembled  the  next  day,  Saturday,  to  further 
consider  these  questions,  it  was  noticed  that  Strickland  quietly 
walked  in  and  took  his  place. 

But  if  they  resented  the  excessive  assumption  of  personal 
authority  on  the  part  of  the  Queen,  much  more  warmly  did 
they  resent  the  arrogation  of  irresponsible  authority  to  them- 
selves by  the  Prelates.  Thus,  when  the  Commons'  proposals 
for  reformation  were  presented  to  the  Committee  of  Religion, 
composed  of  representatives  of  the  Commons  and  of  '  the 
lords  of  the  spirituality/  Archbishop  Parker  observed  the 
omission  of  certain  articles — those  on  the  Homilies  and  the 
consecration  of  Bishops — and  was  told  by  Peter  Wentworth, 
that  the  members  had  not  had  time  to  consider  them. 
Parker  retorted  that  they  had  mistaken  the  matter,  and 
added  pontifically,  '  You  will  refer  yourselves  wholly  to  us 
[Bishops]  therein.'  Wentworth  replied  with  warmth,  'No 
by  the  faith  I  bear  to  God,  we  will  pass  nothing,  before  we 
understand  what  it  is.  For  that  were  to  make  you  popes. 


36  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Make  you  popes  who  list ;  for  we  will  make  you 
none.' 1 

4.  The  'Admonition  to  Parliament* — The  coercive  policy 
of  Archbishop  Parker  grew  in  severity  to  the  close  of  his 
life.  The  reform  leaders  therefore  determined  upon  a  bold 
movement.  Parliament  was  still  theoretically,  and  to  some 
degree,  in  fact,  the  guardian  of  public  liberties.  Tyrannical 
rulers  have  ever  found  support  from  prelates ;  but  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  set  a  higher  value  on 
the  constitutional  liberties  of  the  country  than  did  the 
priests.  Certainly  the  Parliament  which  met  on  the  8th  of 
May  1572  was  not  composed  of  men  who  would  bow  their 
necks  willingly  to  a  clerical  yoke.  The  reformers  therefore 
determined  to  appeal  to  Parliament.  They  drew  up  their 
celebrated  Admonition ;  two  of  their  number,  John  Field  of 
Aldermary  and  Thomas  Wilcox,  sometime  minister  of 
Honey  Lane  Church  in  Cheapside,  acting  as  their  scribes. 
Strype  states  that  it  was  never  presented ;  but  Neal,  having 
access  to  superior  Nonconformist  sources  of  history,  is  able 
to  tell  us  that  it  was  actually  presented  to  the  House  of 
Commons.  It  was  presently  printed  and  widely  circulated, 
and  marks  an  important  stage  in  the  ecclesiastical  history 
of  the  reign.  It  gave  rise  to  an  important  controversy,  and 
led  the  way  directly  to  the  still  greater  Marprelate  Con- 
troversy. It  appeared  as  a  small  octavo  tract  of  sixty 
pages,  without  title-page. 

A  brief  preliminary  address,  after  the  manner  of  the 
time,  precedes  the  Admonition  proper.  It  begins — 

The  Writers  profere  to  your  godly  considerations  a  true 
platform  [plan]  of  a  church  reformed,  to  the  end  that  it  beyng 
layd  before  your  eyes,  to  beholde  the  great  unlikeness  betwixt  it 
and  this  our  english  church. 

They  discount  beforehand  the  opposition  of  high -placed 
church  dignitaries,  whose  kingdom  must  be  subdued, 
'  because  their  tyrannous  Lordshippe  can  not  stande  wyth 
Christes  kingdome.'  Proud  titles  and  ostentatious  parade 

1  Strype,  Annals,  n.  i.  88. 


INTRODUCTORY  37 

are  responsible  for  the  backwardness  of  the  Church.  The 
Bishops,  moreover,  ill-use  '  theyr  fellowe  seruauntes/  because 
of  '  their  own  childishe  Articles ' ;  calling  them  by  odious 
names  such  as  '  Puritanes,  Donatists,'  etc. 

The  'Admonition'  then  follows.  Knowing  well  Eliza- 
beth's view  of  her  prerogatives,  the  writers  address  the 
members  as  God's  servants ;  their  concern  is  with  the 
highest  things ;  there  is  nothing  higher  than  to  purify  the 
Church  from  Eomanism.  A  true  Church  has  three  outward 
marks:  (1)  the  '  preachyng  of  ye  worde  purely';  (2)  the 
'  ministering  of  the  sacramentes  sincerely ' ;  and  (3) 
'  ecclesiastical  discipline.'  In  regard  to  the  first  character- 
istic, it  is  enough  to  refer  to  the  nature  of  the  ministry 
and  its  qualifications.  The  establishment  should  be  com- 
pared to  the  primitive  Church.  The  '  olde  Church '  elected 
its  ministers  only  after  careful  inquiry.  The  Bishops,  on  a 
gentleman's  recommendation,  ordain  'tag  and  rag,  learned 
and  unlearned,  of  the  basest  sorte  of  the  people.'  The 
'  olde  Church '  differed  greatly  from  the  Bishops'  Church,  in 
that  it  excluded  'idolatrous  sacrificers,'  elected  its  own 
ministers.  Advowsons  were  now  bought  with  money.1 
The  Bishops  now  make  ministers  indiscriminately,  '60.  80. 
or  100.  at  a  clap';  sending  them  abroad  like  'masteries 
men '  [tramps].  Nor  can  they  now  ordain  without  '  an 
albe,  a  surplesse,  a  vestiment,  a  pastorale  staffe,'  and  they 
employ  blasphemously  the  words,  '  Receaue  the  holy  Gost.' 
Of  the  sacraments  the  authors  complain  of  the  private 
administration  and  of  the  pretence  of  interrogating  infants 
at  baptism.  They  also  demand  apostolic  discipline.  In 
this  connection  they  quote  their  classic  text,  '  Tell  it  to  the 
Church ' ; 2  a  text  that  assumes  the  existence  of  a  Church  to 
which  a  complaint  could  be  told.  '  Then  it  was  said,  tell  the 
Church ;  now  it  is  spoken  complaine  to  my  Lords  grace, 
Primate  and  Metropolitane  of  all  England ' ;  or  else  to  the 
Bishop,  or  to  the  Chancellor.3 

The  second  section  of  the  Admonition  is  a  '  Viewe  of 
Popishe  abuses  yet  remaining  in  the  Englishe  Church.'  The 
1  A  ii.  vers.  2  Matt,  xviii.  17.  3  B  i.  rers. 


38  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

High  Commission  accounted  the  refusal  of  the  Noncon- 
formists to  subscribe  as  sedition.  Parliament  is  entreated 
to  afford  them  an  opportunity  of  purging  themselves  of  that 
false  charge.  Then  the  writers  proceed  to  discuss  the  three 
articles  presented  for  subscription.  First,  that  the  entire 
contents  of  the  Prayer  Book  *  be  such  as  are  not  repugnante 
to  the  worde  of  God.'  On  this  point  they  say  that  as  a 
fact  they  have  used  the  Prayer  Book.  They  shrink  from 
subscription,  because  it  is  '  an  unperfect  booke,  culled  and 
picked  out  of  that  popishe  dunghill,  the  Masse  booke ;  full 
of  abominations.'  The  Bishops  deceive  themselves  over  the 
word  '  repugnant/  as  though  nothing  could  be  obnoxious  to 
such  a  charge  unless  it  were  '  expressly  forbidden  by  plaine 
commandment/  To  ask  them  to  subscribe  not  only  to  the 
Homilies  '  already  set  out,'  but  also  to  '  those  hereafter  to 
be  set  oute,'  they  think  is  distinctly  unfair.  They  cannot 
observe  saints'  days,  for  the  quaint  reason  that  they  are 
commanded  to  labour  six  days  —  that  is,  no  less.  The 
superstitious  elements  in  the  observances  of  baptism  and 
marriage  are  an  offence  to  them  ;  '  women  coming  bareheaded 
[at  marriages]  with  bagpipes  and  fiddlers  before  them  to 
disturb  the  congregation ' ;  confirmation  by  the  Bishop  alone 
is  unscriptural — that  is,  it  should  be  the  act  of  the  Church ; 
the  prayer  at  burials  is  virtually  a  prayer  for  the  dead ;  and 
the  churching  of  women  is  a  superstition  '  smelling  of 
Jewishe  purification.' * 

An  interesting  light  is  thrown  upon  the  character  of 
public  worship  in  an  ordinary  town  or  country  church. 
The  Admonition  says  it  is  not  to  edification.  The  singers 
'  tosse  the  Psalmes  in  most  places,  like  tennice  balles.' 
During  the  service — 

the  people,  some  standing,  some  walking,  some  talking,  some 
reading,  some  praying  by  themselves,  attend  not  unto  the 
minister. 

Then  the  minister  often  races  through  the  service ;  perhaps 
he  is  a  pluralist  and  must  rush  off  to  his  next  charge ;  or 

1  C  iii. 


INTRODUCTORY  39 

he  is  anxious  not  to  be  late  for  the  Sunday  afternoon 
games — 

as  lying  for  the  whetstone,  heathenish  dancing  for  the  ring,  or 
a  beare  or  a  bull  to  be  baited,  or  else  Jacke  an  apes  to  ride  on 
horsebacke,  or  an  enteiiude  to  be  plaide ;  and  if  no  place  can  be 
gotten,  it  must  be  done  in  the  churches.1 

The  '  pontificall '  and  the  whole  range  of  prelatical  offices 
are  repudiated  ;  also  cathedral  churches  which  afford  them 
sinecures — those  '  dennes  ...  of  all  loytering  lubbers.' 

Very  strong  objection  is  taken  to  the  corrupt  ecclesiastical 
courts,  among  which  the  Archbishop's  Court  has  a  bad 
pre-eminence.  It  was  a  favourite  policy  of  the  medieval 
Church  to  fix  severe  restrictions  on  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  so  that  the  Church  officials  might  drive  a  lucrative 
trade  in  granting  dispensations.  When  the  Reformation 
visited  England,  it  was  an  easier  matter  to  abolish  the 
dogmas  of  Popery  than  to  abolish  this  source  of  income. 
There  was  not  the  slightest  difficulty  in  being  married  in 
Lent,  Advent,  or  '  gange  week '  [Rogation] ;  it  was  simply  a 
matter  of  fees.  To  eat  flesh  at  prohibited  times  was  a 
luxury  any  one  could  purchase  for  money.  To  dispense 
boys  to  hold  benefices  was  pure  corruption ;  '  tollerations 
for  non-residentes,'  '  bulles  to  have  two  benefices,'  or  more, 
the  substitution  of  a  proxy  in  a  sentence  of  excommunica- 
tion for  debt  were  also  corruptions ;  but  these  reprehensible 
irregularities  were  sanctioned  for  money.2 

Under  the  examination  of  the  second  article  requiring 
subscription,  among  other  things  the  Bishops  are  charged 
with  inconsistency  in  regard  to  the  prescribed  clerical 
apparel.  The  '  grey  amise,'  for  which  something  might  be 
said  as  originally  a  layman's  garment,  is  rejected  as  a 
vestment  defiled  with  superstition ;  and  yet  they  allow 
copes,  cap,  surplice,  tippets,  and  other  things.3  Lastly, 
there  is  the  third  article ;  its  concern  is  with  the  creed  of 
the  Church.  The  'Articles  of  Religion,'  specially  identified 
as  those  agreed  upon  in  the  year  1562,  inasmuch  as  they 

1  C  iii.  vers.  2  D  i.  vera.  3  D  iii. 


40  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

had  not  at  the  time  received  the  sanction  of  the  Queen  and 
Parliament,  give  the  Nonconformists  little  trouble.  c  Using  a 
godly  interpretation  in  a  point  or  two,'  they  approve  of  them. 

We  have  given  so  much  space  to  the  contents  of  this 
small  pamphlet,  because  it  enables  us  to  understand  the 
position  occupied  at  this  time  by  a  large  and  thoughtful  class 
of  those  seeking  the  further  reformation  of  the  Church  ;  and 
also  because  of  its  historic  importance  in  the  development 
of  the  ecclesiastical  conflict  of  the  reign.  Its  success  was 
immediate,  and,  according  to  the  experience  of  the  time, 
very  great.  Despite  the  activity  of  censor  and  pursuivant, 
four  editions  were  issued  before  the  close  of  the  year.  The 
first  edition  was  circulated  soon  after  midsummer. 

5.  The  Admonition  to  the  Parliament  Controversy. — No 
one  observed  the  growing  circulation  of  this  constitutional 
appeal  with  greater  anxiety  than  Parker.  The  Admonition 
was  dangerous,  because  it  was  small.  The  people  are  not 
reached  by  quartos  and  folios ;  this  brochure  could  be 
carried  about  in  their  pockets ;  it  supplied  them  with  clear 
and  concise  objections  to  the  imperfectly-reformed  English 
institution ;  it  explained  to  the  populace  why  so  many  men 
of  good  repute  at  this  time  chose  rather  to  abide  in  the  foul 
prisons  and  to  be  ruined  by  fines  and  the  neglect  of  their 
proper  business,  rather  than  to  conform  and  subscribe. 
The  Archbishop  therefore  determined  upon  instant  action. 
First,  he  had  Field  and  Wilcox,  known  to  him  probably 
because  they  carried  their  '  Admonition '  to  the  House  of 
Commons  personally,  cast  into  Newgate,  though  it  was  an 
utterly  lawless  proceeding.  Elizabeth's  fourth  Parliament 
was  prorogued  on  June  2  9th  ;  the  two  men  were  arrested 
about  a  week  earlier.1  The  press  and  the  printer  entirely 

1  Neal  gives  the  date  of  the  imprisonment,  wrongly,  as  October  2nd  ; 
Petheram  says  October  8th.  Brook,  quoting  the  Second  Parte  of  a  Register, 
comes  nearer  the  truth,  and  gives  the  date  as  July  7th,  though  he  records  a 
Conference  on  September  llth,  at  which  Wilcox  says  they  have  been  in  prison 
'  nearly  three  months.'  Field  writes  from  Newgate  to  Anthony  Gilby  on 
August  4th,  and  says  he  has  been  in  close  prison  '  these  six  weekes. '  The 
close  imprisonment  shows  how  vindictive  Parker  had  become.  See  Baker 
MSS.  (Camb.),  Mm.  i.  43  (443)  ;  Neal's  Hist.  i.  231  ;  Brook's  Lives,  i.  319  ; 
ii.  186  ;  and  Petheram's  Notes  to  THE  EPISTLE. 


INTRODUCTORY  41 

escaped  the  search.  The  Archbishop  in  the  next  place 
appointed  Thomas  Cooper,  recently  elevated  to  the  See  of 
Lincoln,  whose  close  acquaintance  we  shall  have  to  make  a 
little  later,  to  reply  to  the  pamphlet  from  the  open-air 
pulpit  at  Paul's  Cross,  on  Sunday,  June  27th.  We  learn 
Cooper's  main  points  from  An  Answer  to  it  which  was 
published.1  He  thinks  it  wise  to  accuse  the  nonconforming 
critics  of  purposely  hindering  the  Gospel,  and  'gaping  for 
[the  Bishops']  livings.'  If  it  were  true,  as  the  Bishop  said 
in  his  sermon,  that,  although  every  parish  ought  to  have  a 
preacher,  it  was  impossible  to  supply  the  twenty  thousand 
men  needed,  the  greater  the  Prelate's  folly  to  deprive 
capable  men  for  not  wearing  their  '  gay  gear/  says  the 
Answer.  The  heathenism  of  the  country  justified  the 
appointment  of  incapable  men,  urged  the  Bishop ;  the 
Answer  replies  that  the  New  Testament  times  were  truly 
heathen,  but  it  commands  that  only  those  should  be 
ordained  who  were  'able  to  teach.'  Bishop  Cooper  says, 
in  mitigation  of  the  situation,  that  the  unlearned  ministers 
at  least  read  clearly  and  distinctly,  whereas  the  Papists 
'  glory  to  mumble  mattins  swiftly ' ;  the  Answer  tells  him 
he  cannot  know  how  irreverently  the  service  is  got  through 
by  those  '  galloping  Sir  Johns  in  the  country  that  have 
licence  from  [him]  and  other  bishops  to  serve  two  or  three 
cures.'  Cooper  claims  for  the  Church  greater  freedom  from 
unprofitable  ceremonies  than  was  the  case  with  any  other 
communion ;  he  is  pointed,  in  reply,  to  the  foreign  Churches 
in  this  country.  He  quotes  the  Fathers ;  but  Bishops  only 
quote  them  when  they  are  favourable.  Would  Cooper 
quote  Cyprian  in  favour  of  child  communicants  and  the 
reserved  sacrament  ?  The  author  of  the  Answer  had  a 
capable  gift  of  satire.  Cooper  claims  for  the  government  of 
the  Church  the  support  of  '  every  godly  man  in  Europe. ' 
He  is  asked  if  he  has  travelled  so  extensively  as  to  know 
this.  The  Answer  understands  that  he  was  '  never  yet  out 
of  this  realm' — there  was  no  religious  reason  why  he 
should  go  into  exile  on  the  accession  of  Catholic  Mary. 

1  Strype,  Annals,  u.  i.  286  et  seq. 


42  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Nor  could  he  have  gained  the  knowledge  from  the  writings 
of  the  learned  foreigners.  It  was  but  yesterday  [on  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth]  that  he  became  a  divine.  The 
Queen  made  him  a  Bishop  because  he  published  another 
man's  book,  or  rather  a  compilation  of  two  books  by  other 
men,  under  his  own  name. 

Cooper  cannot  avoid  the  conventional  Episcopal  method 
of  controversy.  The  reformers  have  demanded  the  reform 
of  the  cathedral  churches.  He  shakes  his  weather-wise  old 
head  and  says  that  they  wish  '  in  like  sort '  the  '  overthrow 
of  colleges  and  universities.'  The  punishment  meted  out 
to  the  reformers  has  been  severe  and  ruinous.  Cooper 
calmly  assumed  it  was  trifling,  by  calling  loudly  for  severer 
punishment  to  be  applied  alike  to  'papists  and  zealous 
gospellers.'  The  Answer  replies  that  the  '  poor  Protestants 
have  been  reduced  to  beggary  already ;  and  have  been  even 
cast  into  the  foul  dungeons  of  Newgate.  What  more  can 
the  Bishop  have,  but  their  lives  ?  They  have  been  handled 
more  cruelly  than  the  Papists.'  '  Had  not  Bonner,  while 
he  lived,  his  strumpet  resorting  to  him  daily  ?  Have  not 
the  prisoners  which  were  removed  out  of  the  Tower  to  the 
Marshalsea,  the  liberty  of  the  whole  house  ? '  None  were 
forbidden  to  visit  these  prisoners,  some  of  whom  the 
Bishops  took  home  to  their  own  houses  and  '  made  them 
good  cheer.' 

While  Field  and  Wilcox  were  in  prison,  their  friends 
outside  took  up  the  fray.  The  Admonition  was  issued  in 
an  enlarged  form.  Along  with  it  was  A  Second  Admonition 
to  Parliament,  ascribed  by  an  unvarying  tradition  to  Thomas 
Cartwright.  This  pamphlet  takes  up  the  controversy  with 
skill  and  energy.  It  remarks  that  there  must  be  something 
gravely  wrong  about  their  books,  else  they  have  '  a  great 
deale  of  wrong  offered  [them].'  Field  and  Wilcox,  says 
Cartwright,  are  harshly  treated ;  for  close  imprisonment  in 
Newgate  is  '  next  dore  to  hanging.'  But  those  still  out  of 
prison  who  are  carrying  on  the  warfare,  are  in  a  perilous 
position.  Cartwright  would  have  published  'some  other 
thynges,'  but  for  the  relentlessness  of  the  search  instituted. 


INTRODUCTORY  43 

It  reveals  how  easily  men  are  moved  by  material  considera- 
tions to  find  that  Day,  celebrated  as  a  Protestant  printer, 
who  issued  Foxe's  Acts  and  Monuments,  the  works  of  Latimer, 
Becon,  and  Grindal,  and  also  those  of  the  pronounced 
Puritan  Anthony  Gilby,  should  have  entered  zealously  in 
company  with  Toy  '  the  bookbinder '  into  this  work  of 
tracking  an  unauthorised  press.  The  printer  of  a  small 
pamphlet  issued  at  this  time,  entitled,  Certaine  Articles 
collected  .  .  .  ly  the  Bishops  out  of  .  .  .  an  Admonition, 
puts  the  same  complaint  into  some  doggerel  lines — 

Thys  worke  is  fynished  thankes  be  to  God 
And  lie  only  wil  keepe  us  from  the  searchers  rod. 
And  though  Master  Day  and  Toy  watch  and  warde 
We  hope  the  living  God  is  our  sauegarde. 

Still,  in  spite  of  the  strict  censorship,  Cartwright's  '  other 
thynges '  shortly  appeared,  prefaced  by  a  vigorous  letter  of 
introduction.  Is  plain  speech  such  a  sin  ?  it  asks.  The 
old  prophets,  if  now  living,  would  have  been  cast  by  the 
Bishops  into  '  ye  Marshalsea  |  the  White  Lion  |  the  Kings 
Benche  |  the  Gatehouse  |  or  other  prisons :  yea  (and  rather 
than  they  should  be  unprisoned),  to  Newgate  with  them  as 
fast  as  they  can  trotte.'  1  Why,  he  asks,  should  not  the 
Prelates  be  criticised  ? 

The  first  of  the  tracts  thus  introduced  is  An  Exhortation 
to  the  Byshops  to  deal  Brotherly  with  their  Brethren.  The 
persecutors  still  refer  to  the  reformers  as  '  brethren/  even 
while  condemning  them  to  the  damp,  fetid  cells  of  Newgate. 
'  Contrarye  to  theyr  profession '  they  '  deale  so  unchristianlye 
with  theyr  brethren/  The  Bishops  are  appealed  to ;  for 
they,  and  not  the  civil  authorities,  are  the  oppressors.2 
Their  dread  of  innovation,  so  characteristic  of  the  bureau- 
cratic mind,  is  quietly  ridiculed ;  as  though  it  were  so 
extraordinary  a  thing  to  reform  a  Church.  The  second 
tract,  intended  by  the  printer  to  be  bound  up  with  the 
first,  is  An  Exhortation  to  the  Bishops  and  their  Clergie  to 

1  The  date  of  this  letter  is  given  :   '  From  my  chamber  in  London  |  this 
30.  of  September  1572.'  a  Sig.  A  ii. 


44  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

aunswere  a  little  booke  that  came  forthe  the  last  Parliament. 
It  repeats  the  familiar  arguments,  adding  a  note  of  personal 
resentment  against  the  beneficed  Pharisees  of  the  Establish- 
ment. It  is  not  the  kind  of  '  exhortation,'  one  would 
suppose,  which  would  be  likely  to  induce  Parker  and 
Sandys  to  draw  the  bolts  of  Newgate.  The  prisoners 
suffered  severely.  The  Archbishop,  writing  on  December, 
complains  of  '  this  hard  winter ' ;  and  Field,  addressing  his 
friend  from  Newgate,  might  well  say,  '  the  Pillers  of  our 
Churche  shew  them  selues  mercyles  Persecutors.' 1 

The  open  policy  of  the  Bishops  was  now  to  accuse  the 
writers  and  supporters  of  the  Admonition  of  '  Arrianisme, 
Quintefeldianisme,  Puritanisme,  and  very  often  of  Rebellion 
and  Treason.' 2  Acting,  therefore,  on  Gilby's  suggestion, 
Field  drew  up  a  statement  of  his  belief  and  his  fellow- 
prisoner's.  Its  chief  distinguishing  points  are  as  follows : — 
No  excellence  in  the  '  service '  can  release  the  pastor  from 
preaching  '  deliverance  through  Christ.'  His  special  office 
is  not  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  public,  though  that  be 
allowable.  Separation  is  only  justified  by  credal  exclusive- 
ness  and  coercion.  The  moral  life  of  the  Church  and  the 
case  of  the  poor  is  the  care  of  the  pastor,  in  conjunction 
with  the  elders  and  deacons ;  but  the  authority  of  pastor 
over  pastor,  or  church  over  church,  is  repudiated.  The 
Church  is  not  an  indiscriminate  crowd  of  parishioners ;  but 
'  gathered  out  of  the  world '  by  preaching,  and  qualified  as 
members  by  their  Scriptural  piety.  On  the  test  question  of 
the  appointment  of  the  minister  (or  pastor)  they  declare  he 
should  be  chosen  by  the  members  of  the  Church ;  and  con- 
firmed by  the  elders,  '  with  public  prayer  and  imposition  of 
hands.'  Churches,  without  essential  disunion,  may  differ  as 
to  ceremonies ;  though  all  should  be  simple  and  free  from 
Popery.  All  have  not  the  gift  of  prayer,  therefore  a  pre- 
script form  of  prayer  may  be  used ;  always  granted  that  the 
form  be  '  not  patched  out  of  the  Pope's  portuises  [breviaries].' 
Religion  is  tied  to  no  time,  and  saints'  days  are  utterly 

1  Baker  MSS.  (Camb.),  Mm.  i.  43  (444). 
2  L.  Tomson  to  A.  Gilby,  ibid. 


INTRODUCTORY  45 

disliked.  The  authority  of  the  magistrate,  even  in  extreme 
cases,  is  freely  acknowledged.  But  it  is  his  duty  to  establish 
true  religion  and  to  extirpate  superstition  and  infidelity.1 

In  this  latter  respect,  though  they  were  unconscious  of 
the  fact,  they  differed  little  from  their  persecutors ;  for 
Parker  quoted  the  Queen's  authority  for  all  that  he  did. 
They  might  have  reflected  that,  although  they  would  have 
allowed  a  larger  liberty  of  difference  in  externalities, 
and  did  agree  theologically  with  their  persecutors,  yet 
they  were  in  Newgate  because  it  happened  that  Parker 
had  the  opportunity  of  putting  their  common  theory  into 
practice ;  and  being  a  hard  man,  he  did  it  with  little  mercy. 
It  was  perilous  at  this  time  to  express  even  an  opinion 
favourable  to  the  Admonition.  Sandys  complains  that  Crick, 
chaplain  to  the  Puritan  Bishop  of  Norwich,  had  done  so 
before  the  crowd  at  Paul's  Cross.  Wake,  Canon  of  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  did  so  at  the  same  place  under  more 
scandalous  circumstances.  The  Bishop,  previous  to  the 
sermon,  had  put  certain  questions  to  him,  which  Wake  had 
been  able  to  answer  without  committing  himself,  or  arousing 
the  Bishop's  suspicions.  In  both  cases,  though  he  sent 
betimes  to  apprehend  the  offenders,  they  had  managed  to 
depart  before  the  arrival  of  the  pursuivants.  He  bitterly 
declares,  '  By  Gods  help  I  will  foresee  that  hereafter  the 
like  fall  not  out.' 2 

6.  John  Wliitgift  selected  as  Bishop's  Advocate.  —  No 
sooner  had  the  Archbishop  realised  the  character  and  popu- 
larity of  the  Admonition  than  he  at  once  saw  the  necessity 
that  a  literary  reply  to  it  should  be  provided.  This  little 
work  aroused  especial  interest  in  many  quarters  as  a  primary 
attempt  at  formulating  for  popular  use  the  views  of  the 
advanced  Church  reformers ;  and  its  success  was  undeniable. 
It  found  '  great  applause  among  the  green  heads  of  the 
university.' 3  The  appointment  of  Cooper  of  Lincoln  to  fill 
the  pulpit  at  Paul's  Cross  and  talk  round  the  subject  was 

1  Neal's  History,  i.  234  n. 

2  Strype,   Whitg.  iii.  32.     [Append.  Bk.  I.  No.  xvi.] 
3  Paule's  Whitg.  (Wordsworth's  Lives],  330. 


46  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

but  a  stop-gap  arrangement.  A  more  weighty  pronounce- 
ment was  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  the  situation. 
Moreover,  an  event  happened  within  a  couple  of  months  of 
the  appearance  of  the  Admonition  which  greatly  aggravated 
the  demand  for  the  utter  purification  of  the  Church  from 
every  remnant  of  Popery.  On  St.  Bartholomew's  day, 
August  24th,  a  fiendish  massacre  of  Protestants  took  place 
in  France.  In  the  capital  ten  thousand  persons,  in  the 
provinces  twenty  thousand,  were  butchered,  no  regard  being 
had  to  sex,  age,  or  social  distinction  in  the  murderous  fury 
of  the  Romanists.  The  smell  of  blood  came  across  the 
Channel.  It  was  with  a  hang-dog  demeanour  that  the  French 
ambassador  appeared  at  the  English  Court ;  where,  indeed, 
he  received  the  chilliest  of  receptions.  He  found  Elizabeth 
and  her  Court  dressed  in  mourning.  But  out  of  doors  more 
cogently  than  ever  the  question  was  asked,  Why  should  our 
ministers  go  on  wearing  the  '  livery  of  the  Roman  Anti- 
christ,' imitating  his  form  of  worship,  practising  his  super- 
stitions, and  maintaining  his  corrupt  ecclesiastical  courts  ? 
Clearly,  it  was  needful  that  something  should  be  done  to 
regulate  this  dangerous  and  rising  current  of  opinion. 

The  difficulty  was  that  the  Church  was  not  rich  in  men 
of  the  calibre  and  of  the  special  gifts  required.  Jewel,  the 
learned  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  died  the  previous  autumn. 
Parkhurst  had  marked  literary  gifts ;  but  his  soundness  was 
suspected.  The  Archdeacon  of  Lincoln,  John  Aylmer,  had 
written  a  notorious  book,  An  Harborrowe  for  FaitJifull  and 
Trew  Subiectes,  full  of  vigorous  rhetoric ;  but  that  essay  in 
authorship  satisfied  his  literary  ambition  for  the  rest  of  his 
days.  The  abler  writers  of  the  time  were  to  be  found  in 
the  opposite  camp.  Many  of  the  needful  qualifications  were, 
however,  possessed  by  Dr.  John  Whitgift,  Dean  of  Lincoln 
and  Master  of  Trinity  College.  Two  years  previously  he  had 
filled  the  honourable  office  of  vice-chancellor  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge.  He  had  achieved  some  fame  by  his 
encounters  at  Trinity  with  Thomas  Cartwright,  his  learned 
and  eloquent  successor  as  Lady  Margaret  professor  of 
divinity.  In  the  contest  Cartwright  was  stripped  clean 


INTRODUCTORY  47 

of  all  his  college  and  university  honours.  It  was  early 
remarked  of  Whitgift  that  he  never  dealt  in  half-measures. 
So  the  lot  fell  upon  him  to  vindicate  the  Episcopal  position. 
As  the  pronouncement  was  to  be  of  an  official  and  repre- 
sentative character,  he  worked  in  collaboration  with  Parker 
and  several  of  the  Bishops,  and  others — Cox  of  Ely,  Cooper 
of  Lincoln,  and  Wickham,  Dean  of  the  same  cathedral,  and 
his  own  choice  friend  Andrew  Perne,  Master  of  Peterhouse, 
an  Elizabethan  '  Vicar  of  Bray,'  among  the  number.  His 
manuscript  was  circulated  among  them  and  received  their 
observations  and  additions.  To  the  Archbishop  he  sub- 
mitted his  work  with  a  very  marked  deference  and  humility. 
The  final  part  was  ready  in  the  latter  part  of  October 
and  despatched  to  the  Primate,  '  to  correct  it  as  it  should 
seem  good  to  him.3 

The  result  of  the  united  judgments  of  the  consulting 
Bishops  can  be  seen  in  the  style  of  the  work,  which  is  a 
remarkable  congeries  of  tracts.  It  is  entitled,  An  Answer e 
to  a  certen  Libel  intituled  An  Admonition  to  the  Parliament, 
ly  loJin  Whitgifte,  D.  of  Diuinitie — a  well-printed  quarto 
in  black  letter. 

The  work  contains  the  entire  text  of  the  Admonition, 
paragraph  by  paragraph,  in  the  course  of  its  confutation. 
It  opens  with  a  Dedicatory  Epistle ;  then  follow  in  due 
succession,  A  Briefe  examination  of  the  reasons  of  the 
Admonition ;  an  address  To  the  Christian  Reader ;  Cor- 
rection of  faultes  escaped — an  extended  list  notwithstand- 
ing the  conjoint  editorship ;  an  Exhortation  to  such  as  be 
in  authority  ;  Examination  of  the  Preface  to  the  Admonition  ; 
Answere  to  the  Admonition;  Additions,  detractions,  and 
alterations  in  the  second  part  of  the  Admonition ;  Letter 
of  Master  Gualter  in  Latin ;  the  same  in  English ;  Latin 
Epistle  from  Master  H.  Bullinger ;  the  same  in  English ; 
A  briefe  answer  to  certain  Pamphlets  spred  abroade  of  late ; 
a  briefe  viewe  of  the  Second  Admonition ;  Articles  collected 
out  of  the  former  Admonition  and  untruly  said  to  be 
falsified.  A  still  augmented  edition  was  issued  from  the 
press  towards  the  end  of  July  15*73.  So  far  as  the 


48  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

contest  went,  it  was  much  like  the  engagement  some  years 
later  between  the  lofty  Spanish  galleon  and  the  small  but 
active  English  ship.  The  brief  work  of  Field  and  Wilcox 
was  being  issued  without  cessation  from  the  secret  press; 
and  the  reformers  might  well  have  left  the  issue  where 
it  was. 

The  Bishops  for  their  part  determined  that  the  Answere 
should  be  the  final  word  in  the  controversy.  They  obtained 
from  Elizabeth  a  fresh  proclamation,  dated  June  llth,  call- 
ing in  every  copy  of  the  Admonition  and  all  books  written 
in  its  defence.  The  activity  of  the  Censorship  was  greatly 
increased.  Their  pursuivants  discovered  at  Hampstead  a 
secret  press  and  some  cases  of  type,  which  they  hired  out 
to  Bynneman,  Whitgift's  printer.  But  increasingly  difficult 
as  the  task  had  become,  the  reforming  party  determined  to 
follow  up  the  controversy.  Field  and  Wilcox  write  from 
Newgate  that  they  hope  Whitgift's  book  will  receive  a 
reply;  but  because  their  enemies  'seeke  by  some  second 
offense  to  condempne  them  to  perpetuall  Imprisonment, 
therefore  by  advise  they  stay  their  pennes.' l  The  matter 
was  by  the  consent  of  the  leaders  left  in  the  hands  of 
Thomas  Cartwright.  The  Admonition  may  be  said  to  have 
given  currency  to  the  views  set  forth  in  his  Cambridge 
lectures  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Meanwhile  Sandys, 
Bishop  of  London,  who  was  most  forward  in  obtaining  the 
Queen's  proclamation,  had  to  confess  its  failure.  Twenty 
days  after  its  publication,  although  there  were  thousands  of 
the  Admonition  in  circulation  in  and  around  London,  not  a 
single  copy  was  brought  in. 

The  Admonition  controversy  now  resolved  itself  into  a 
literary  duel  between  Whitgift  and  Cartwright.  Fuller 
makes  the  obvious  remark,  that  Whitgift  had  more  material 
force  at  his  command.  He  carried  on  his  work  amidst 
academical  ease  and  with  every  facility  in  getting  his  work 
through  the  press.  Cartwright  had  to  work  in  secret, 
under  the  ban  of  the  authorities ;  but  he  had  the  advan- 
tage of  more  extended  learning  and  wielded  a  defter  pen. 

1  Baker  MSS.  (Camb.),  Mm.  i.  43  (444). 


INTRODUCTORY  49 

His  Replye  to  an  Answere  made  of  Doctor  Whitgift  appeared 
about  September  1573.  It  ran  into  a  second  edition.1  He 
was  fortunate  to  be  able  to  get  away  to  the  Continent  on 
the  completion  of  his  task.  Wilcox  writes  to  Anthony 
Gilby  the  following  February,  '  Our  brother  Cartwright  is 
escaped,  God  be  praised,  and  departed  this  Land  .  .  .  and 
I  hope  is  by  this  tyme  in  Heidelberge.' 2  In  due  course 
Whitgift  issued  his  Defense  of  the  Answere,  a  handsomely 
printed  volume,  two  editions  of  which  appeared  in  1574.3 
Then  from  his  retreat  abroad  Cartwright  issued  in  15*75 
The  Second  Replie,  and  two  years  later  The  Rest  of  the  Second 
Replie.  The  first  is  printed  in  a  Gothic  letter,  the  second 
in  a  more  presentable  Roman  type.  To  these  volumes 
Whitgift  offered  no  reply.  Taunted  by  his  opponents  on 
this  score,  he  replied  that  he  was  strongly  advised  by  his 
friends  not  to  proceed  farther  with  the  controversy.  And 
indeed,  from  a  personal  point  of  view,  it  would  have  been 
misspent  labour.  He  had  already  gained  his  own  end.  He 
never  after  indulged  in  the  pleasures  of  authorship,  if  we 
except  his  brief  contribution  to  the  official  reply  to  the 
Marprelate  Tracts. 

On  the  general  merits  of  the  controversy  little  need  be 
said.  The  arguments  employed  occur  again  and  again 
throughout  the  discussions  of  the  next  twenty  years.  This 
particular  controversy  really  resolved  itself  into  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  Scripture  afforded  a  full  and  final  author- 
ity for  the  government  and  ceremonial  of  the  Church. 
Cartwright  held  that  it  did.  He  was  not  content  to  assert 
a  regulative  principle  of  fraternity,  controlling  all  followers 
of  Christ,  and  condemning  all  prelatical  gradations,  all 
'  superiority,'  all  offices  of  pride  and  power  whose  occupants 
claimed  authority  to  lord  it  over  their  charge,  and  thus  to 
imitate  the  '  rulers  of  the  Gentiles.'  The  prescribed  offices, 
however  expedient  it  should  be  to  diminish  or  increase 
their  number,  or  vary  their  sphere  of  operations,  within  the 

1  B.M.   press-marks:  1st  ed.  T.   2108(1);  2nd  ed.  108,   b  4;  both  in 
4to,  B.L. 

2  Baker  MSS.  (Camb.),  Mm.  i.  43  (439). 

3  B.M.  press-marks :  1st  ed.  14,  b  8  ;  2nd  ed.  475,  d  18 

E 


50  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

restrictions  of  the  regulative  principle,  those  and  none  other 
were  to  be  permitted,  according  to  the  Scriptures.  Whit- 
V  gift  maintained  that  the  Church  was  left  ample  liberty  in 
these  matters.  True  the  Gospel  taught  that  the  Disciples 
had  but  one  Master,  and  they  all  were  brethren;  but  the 
course  of  ages  had  shown  the  desirability  of  having  Gentilic 
orders  of  men  authorised  to  '  lord  it '  over  the  Church, 
having  prelatic  gradations  of  '  superiority/  and  claiming  all 
the  prerogatives  set  forth  by  such  of  the  Fathers  as  Cyprian, 
as  pertinent,  and  indeed  essential,  to  the  episcopal  office. 
The  matter  was  somewhat  complicated  seeing  that  both 
parties  to  the  dispute  regarded  the  canonical  Scriptures  as 
verbally  inspired.  '  The  Holy  Ghost  saith '  is  a  not  un- 
usual style  with  Prelate  and  Puritan,  when  quoting  either 
the  Old  or  the  New  Testament.  Both  parties,  without  dis- 
tinction, regarded  the  Pope  as  the  Antichrist,  sitting  at 
Rome  in  'the  throne  of  the  beaste.'  But  the  Episcopalian 
writers  were  able  to  give  a  sinister  turn  to  the  dispute,  to 
the  grievous  prejudice  of  their  opponents.  These  external 
matters,  said  they,  were  matters  of  choice  and  expediency. 
It  was  therefore  right  that  they  should  be  left  to  the  order- 
ing of  the  Queen  in  her  own  dominions.  They,  therefore, 
who  denounced  Episcopacy,  and  especially  all  who  objected 
to  the  vestments,  were  guilty  of  rebellion.  The  reformers 
retorted  that  the  often-quoted  rule  of  '  decency  and  order ' 
did  not  necessarily  imply  wearing  the  very  garments 
hitherto  worn  by  the  priests  of  the  Roman  Antichrist.  It 
was  in  vain ;  since  the  Queen  had  commanded  them,  to 
disobey  was  sedition. 

The  Primate  himself  went  so  far  as  to  refer  the  question 
whether  or  not  there  shall  be  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  and 
how  they  shall  be  ordered  to  the  decision  of  the  Queen  and 
her  minister.1  And  replying  to  the  charge  of  living  in 
affluence,  he  sends  Burleigh  a  list  of  his  charges  showing  a 
goodly  sum  assigned  to  philanthropy  and  charity.  Yet  he 
could  afford  the  ruinous  expense  of  entertaining  the  Queen ; 
one  such  royal  visit  costing  him  nearly  the  whole  annual 
1  Parker,  Corresp.  454. 


INTRODUCTORY  51 

income  of  his  archbishopric ;  moreover,  he  died  a  very 
wealthy  man.1  He  had  irregular  sources  of  income  from 
the  corrupt  Court  of  Faculties.  Grindal,  his  successor, 
roundly  accuses  him  of  dishonourably  augmenting  his  in- 
come by  his  freedom  in  issuing  dispensations  for  children 
to  partake  of  the  Communion.2 

7.  The  Book  of  Ecclesiastical  Discipline. — Apart  from  the 
exigencies  of  the  incidental  controversy  of  the  time,  it  was 
felt  that  a  more  reasoned  and  systematic  presentation  of 
the  views  of  those  who  demanded  the  further  reformation  of 
the  Church  should  be  prepared  by  one  of  the  most  erudite 
of  their  number  ;  and  written  first  of  all  in  Latin,  that 
learned  men  abroad  should  know  the  views  of  these 
men,  who  were  branded  by  their  adversaries  as  heretics 
and  revolutionaries.  It  might  help  to  dissipate  the  mis- 
representation, keenly  felt  by  the  large  number  of  scholarly 
men  found  in  the  reforming  ranks,  that  they  were  ignorant 
and  unlearned.  They  therefore  put  forth  Ecclesiasticae  Dis- 
ciplinae  .  .  .  Explicatio?  the  authorship  being  invariably 
ascribed  to  Walter  Travers.  It  appeared  almost  immedi- 
ately in  an  English  translation  assigned  to  Cartwright; 
having  for  its  title,  a  literal  rendering  of  the  Latin,  A  full 
and  plaine  declaration  of  Ecclesiasticall  Discipline  owt  off  the 
word  of  God  |  and  off  the  declininge  off  the  churche  of  England 
from  the  same?  The  translator's  preface  gives  an  additional 
reason  for  writing  the  original  in  scholarly  Latin.  It  was 
hoped  that  thus  it  might  catch  the  Queen's  eye.  '  Her 
Majesty  accordinge  to  the  excellent  learninge  and  amongst 
women  without  all  comparison  which  she  hathe,  is  delighted 
with  thinges  that  are  written  in  latin.'  The  work  gives 
dignified  expression  to  the  familiar  views  of  the  men 
who  especially  came  to  be  known  as  Puritans,  and  adhered 

1  See  the  list  of  his  testamentary  benefactions,  Stiype,  Parker,  ii.  438. 

2  White,  Eliz.  Bps.  60,  71. 

3  Rom.  type  ;  294  pp.  with  two  long  folded  tables.     The  '  Epistle '  is 
dated  Feb.  2,  1574. 

*  The  B.M.  Catalogue  conjectures  that  it  was  printed  at  Heidelberg. 
It  is  in  'secretary's  type.'  Reprinted  at  Geneva  1580,  in  small  Rom. 
type.  A  later  reprint  is  dated  1617. 


52  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

most  closely  to  the  Genevan  model  of  Church  government 
and  order. 

Upon  its  appearance  Parker  notified  the  circumstance 
to  Grindal  at  York,  and  desired  his  views  as  to  the  best 
man  to  furnish  a  reply.  Grindal  suggested  Aylmer  and 
sent  him  a  copy  of  the  work ;  but  the  Archdeacon  declined, 
though  the  Primate  had  a  difficulty  in  getting  his  copy  of 
the  book  returned.  Strype  suggests  that  Aylmer's  pique 
in  being  so  long  neglected  was  the  reason  of  his  refusal ; 
but  his  experience  of  authorship  had  been  unhappy.  That 
inauspicious  fruit  of  his  genius,  the  Harborrowe,  with  its 
fatal  popularity,  had  already  barred  his  way  to  a  bishopric. 
The  Archbishop  had  other  names  suggested  and  apparently 
got  a  reply  written.  But  he  is  not  enthusiastic  about  it ; 
it  is  done  '  indifferently  well ' ;  he  will  keep  it  by  him ;  he 
will  not  let  it  go  forth  without  further  judgment  upon  it. 
And  that  is  the  last  we  hear  of  it.1 

Perhaps  the  further  reflection  of  the  Archbishop  sug- 
gested to  him  that  the  matter  was  near  akin  to  the 
Admonition,  and  was  really  being  discussed  in  the  Cart- 
wright  -  Whitgift  controversy.  With  the  achievement  of 
their  champion  the  Bishops  appear  to  have  been  eminently 
satisfied ;  especially  as  they  were  able  to  strengthen  their 
position  by  increasing  the  severity  with  which  they  pursued 
the  Nonconformists.  Bishop  Cox,  writing  to  his  old  friends 
at  Zurich,  states  that  the  Puritan  Brethren  were  '  lying  in 
concealment,  partly  terrified  by  the  authority  of  our  Queen, 
and  partly  silenced  by  a  most  able  treatise  by  a  most 
learned  man '  —  out  of  his  own  moderate  stock  he  had 
generously  contributed  to  the  learning.  He  does  not 
mention  Whitgift's  name,  and  evidently  takes  some  pride 
in  the  work.  But  he  does  realise  that  the  effectiveness 
of  the  persecution  detracts  somewhat  from  the  credit  of  the 
'  most  able  treatise/  in  silencing  the  '  noisy  disturbers.' 2 
Whitgift's  chamberlain  and  biographer,  Sir  George  Paule, 
justifies  his  master  by  the  testimony  of  a  temporal  pro- 

1  Parker,  Corresp.  477  ;  Strype,  Parker,  ii.  399. 
1  Zur.  Lett.  i.  306,  309  ;  THESES  MART.  sig.  A  ii.  ver§. 


INTRODUCTORY  53 

vidence.  Cartwright,  for  long  years  a  wandering  exile,  in 
the  end  only  attained  to  the  '  mastership  of  an  hospital  in 
Warwick  ' ;  Whitgift,  on  the  contrary,  was  ten  years  Master 
of  Trinity,  twice  Vice-Chancellor,  and  received  besides  the 
deanery  of  Lincoln.1  Who  could  regard  the  dark-visaged 
little  Prelate,  with  his  black,  beady,  and  restless  eyes,  bask- 
ing in  the  sunshine  of  uninterrupted  worldly  prosperity, 
and  doubt  that  his  was  the  side  of  the  angels.  He  himself 
was  of  opinion  that  the  ragged  exile,  the  close  prisoner  in 
Newgate,  the  beggared  minister,  the  despised  layman,  men 
who  were  so  stiff  about  prelacy  and  ceremonies,  and  met 
for  prayer  and  scriptural  study  in  unregulated  companies, 
deserved  '  as  great  punishment  as  the  Papists.'  '  If  they 
are  shut  up  in  Newgate,  it  is  a  meet  reward  for  their  dis- 
orderly doings.' 2  Here,  at  any  rate,  was  a,  man  who  had 
never  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  shining  raiment  of  the  angel 
of  toleration. 

8.  The  Forthcoming  Antagonists  of  the  Established  Order. 
— Driven  out  of  sight,  the  evangelical  forces  were  not 
diminished  or  abated.  The  river  gathered  strength  though 
it  flowed  underground.  And  while  Parker's  attention  is 
arrested  by  the  activities  of  the  secret  press  in  the  metropolis 
and  in  the  neighbouring  villages  of  Hampstead,  Wands- 
worth,  and  elsewhere,  at  Cambridge  a  new  and  more 
resolute  set  of  reformers  are  being  bred  and  harnessed  for 
the  fray.  Henry  Barrowe  graduated  at  Clare  Hall  in 
1570,  though  he  left  without  being  infected  with  the 
'  new  religion ' ;  Robert  Browne,  kinsman  to  Burleigh,  left 
Corpus  Christi  in  1572  ;  John  Udall  and  John  Greenwood 
entered  Corpus  as  sizars  in  March  1578;  John  Penry 
entered  Peterhouse  in  1581.  These  men  are  destined  to 
give  to  the  guardians  of  the  established  Church  order  more 
trouble  than  all  the  dialectic  skill  and  learning  of  Thomas 
Cartwright.  The  more  implacable  the  persecution,  the 
more  resolute  the  witness  that  is  called  forth  to  protest 
against  it.  Even  in  this  year  of  1581,  when  Penry  came 
to  Cambridge,  Robert  Browne,  who  was  one  of  the  memor- 

1  Paule's  Whitgift  (Words.  Ecdes.  Biog.  iv.),  332.      2  Neal's  History,  i.  238. 


54  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

able  company  seized  at  Plumbers'  Hall,  and,  after  leaving 
Cambridge,  sometime  chaplain  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  had 
actually  established  in  the  city  of  Norwich  a  Nonconform- 
ing  Church ;  between  which  and  the  legally  established 
Church  there  could  be  no  ecclesiastical  affinity.  It  was  a 
Separatist  Church.  He  and  his  followers  having  migrated 
to  Middleburgh  in  Zee!  and,  the  next  year  he  gave  to  the 
world  the  principles  of  his  Church  in  three  tracts  :  A  Book 
^  which  sheweth  the  life  and  manners  of  all  true  Christians ; 
Reformation  without  tarying  for  anie\  and  A  Treatise  on 
the  23rd  of  Matthew.1  They  claim  attention  not  only  for 
the  influence  they  have  had  upon  the  religious  and  political 
ideas  of  the  English-speaking  race,  but  also  as  probably  the 
only  original  English  contribution  to  the  ecclesiastical  inter- 
pretation of  the  New  Testament.  Episcopacy  came  from 
Rome,  Presbyterianism  from  Zurich  and  Geneva ;  this  was 
native  and  home-born,  and  characteristic  of  the  land  of  its 
birth.  '  Reformation  without  tarying  for  anie '  was  a  title 
brief  enough  to  be  a  battle-cry,  and  significant  enough  to 
be  an  exposition.  Here  at  last  was  an  organisation  which 
could  accept  unconditionally  the  instruction,  '  Tell  it  to  the 
Church.'  It  not  only  repudiated  the  adaptation,  'Tell  it 
to  the  Bishop,'  but  with  equal  conviction,  '  Tell  it  to  the 
presbyters  or  elders.'  It  found  sufficient  authority  for 
itself  in  the  words,  'Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  My  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them ' ; 
satisfied  that  where  Christ  was,  there,  surely,  was  the 
Church.  This  conception  of  the  Church  appealed  strongly 
to  two  features  in  the  English  character ;  its  antipathy  to 
priests  and  its  love  of  independence.  It  was  gradually 
adopted  by  the  more  vigorous  reforming  spirits  and  gave  to 
English  nonconformity  its  first  martyrs.  Elias  Thacker 
and  John  Copping  were  hanged  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's  in 
1583  for  their  unrepenting  adhesion  to  the  doctrines  of 
Browne.  Moreover,  the  advent  of  this  Separatist  Church, 
which  did  not  tarry  for  the  magistrate  or  the  official  priest, 

1  B.M.  press-mark  for  the  first  two,  0  37,  e  57  ;  for  the  third,  Lamb. 
Pal.  Lib.  xxxi.  6,  18  (4). 


INTRODUCTORY  55 

but,  receiving  its  commission  from  a  higher  source,  proceeded 
to  realise  itself  as  a  spiritual  corporation,  fostered  not  only 
a  congregational  liberty  within  the  institution,  but  a  spirit 
of  toleration  towards  them  that  were  without.  Robert 
Browne  discovered  that  '  the  Lords  people  is  of  the  willing 
sorte/  and  that  'it  is  the  conscience  and  not  the  power  of 
man  that  will  drive  us  to  seeke  the  Lordes  kingdome.' 
From  this  enlightened  standpoint  religious  persecution 
became  an  absurdity. 

9.  Three  Types  of  Protestant  Reformers. — It  is  evident 
that  up  to  this  point  there  have  been  distinct  differences 
among  those  who  separated  themselves  from  the  Papal 
Church.  Their  classification  seems  to  be  subtly  determined 
by  their  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Indeed,  Romanism  may  be  included  in  this  law.  In  that 
system  the  central  function  is  the  Mass.  It  needs  a  sacri- 
ficing priest  to  effect  the  miracle  of  transubstantiation.  It 
is  a  Church  in  which  the  office  of  a  divinely  endowed  priest 
is  pivotal.  That  determines  the  character  of  the  Church. 
Among  English  Protestants  some  derived  their  doctrine 
chiefly  from  Luther.  The  Lutheran  doctrine  of  consub- 
stantiation  is  a  half-way  house.  It  exalts  the  material 
elements  upon  the  altar;  though  it  dismisses  the  sacer- 
dotal agent.  And  its  ministry  has  an  official  eminence 
reflected  in  its  sacramental  office.  Again  as  Lutheranism 
is  less  slavishly  literal  than  Romanism,  so  is  Galvanism  still 
more  free  than  Lutheranism.  It  removes  the  miraculous 
to  the  spiritual  sphere.  The  material  elements  in  the 
Eucharist  remain  just  what  they  were ;  but  the  Lord's  body 
is  spiritually  received.  The  Zuinglian  doctrine  completes 
the  process  of  emancipation  from  the  letter  of  the  institution, 
and  the  Holy  Supper  becomes  a  sacred  commemoration. 
The  doctrine  of  religious,  and  more  especially  of  political, 
liberty  recognised  in  Rome,  Wittenberg,  Geneva,  and 
Zurich  would  be  found  to  follow  the  same  graduation.  In 
Rome,  consistently  with  its  tenets,  it  existed  not  at  all. 
Under  Luther  in  an  attenuated  form  only,  with  a  signifi- 
cant transference  of  power  to  the  secular,  but  divinely 


56  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

instituted,  prince,  to  whom  is  due  an  almost  unconditioned 
obedience.  In  Geneva  the  instrument  of  power  is  broadened 
into  an  oligarchy,  elected  on  a  sectarian  franchise.  In 
Zurich  only  was  there  a  breath  of  true  popular  liberty.  In 
England  the  disturbing  element  in  the  Elizabethan  settle- 
ment was  Elizabeth  herself.  The  progress  of  thought  was 
not  permitted  to  develop  normally  by  the  interplay  of  the 
three  existing  types  of  Protestantism.  The  men  she  called 
to  her  to  equip  her  anti-papal  Church  showed  these  dis- 
tinctions. Those  that  remained  in  England  during  the 
dark  years  of  Mary's  reign,  whether  they  renounced  their 
faith  and  outwardly  conformed,  or  succeeded  in  remaining 
in  hiding,  were  chiefly  of  the  Lutheran  type.  The  exiles 
we  can  to  a  considerable  extent  sort  out,  by  learning  where 
they  spent  the  years  of  their  proscription,  whether  in 
Lutheran,  Calvinistic,  or  Zuinglian  centres ;  though  all  of 
them  showed  on  their  return  a  process  of  development ;  to 
be  accounted  for  partly  by  their  contact  with  men  of  more 
advanced  ideas,  and  partly  also  by  their  liberty  to  follow 
the  leading  of  their  consciences,  unbiased  by  fear  of  penalty 
or  hope  of  gain.  But  they  had,  one  and  all,  to  accept 
Elizabeth's  conception  of  the  external  machinery  of  a  Church, 
and  her  determination  to  have  an  external  uniformity  in 
the  acts  of  public  worship.  She  desired  an  institution  of 
sufficient  visible  pomp  and  circumstance,  officered  by 
Bishops  of  sufficient  dignity,  to  make  a  decent  show  in  the 
eyes  of  Europe. 

These  distinctions  are  to  be  borne  in  mind  when  esti- 
mating the  character  of  the  Elizabethan  clergy.  Elizabeth's 
own  difficulty  in  compelling  the  obedience  of  her  Bishops 
arose  from  their  previous  religious  history.  It  can  be  seen 
in  a  measure  in  the  case  of  her  three  Primates — Parker, 
Grindal,  and  Whitgift.  Grindal  went  into  exile,  and  was 
the  most  advanced  reformer  of  the  three.  It  is  not  known 
that  Elizabeth  ever  visited  him  as  a  guest,  and  he  ended 
his  primacy  in  royal  disfavour.  Parker  went  into  strict 
hiding  during  the  reign  of  Mary ;  he  was  far  more  sub- 
servient to  the  Queen,  only  in  extremities  muttering  re- 


INTRODUCTORY  57 


bellion;  moderate  in  doctrine,  and  amenable  in  outward  polity, 
even,  as  in  the  case  of  the  vestments,  when  not  altogether 
after  his  own  mind.  Whitgift,  a  disciple  of  Andrew  Perne, 
bowed  himself  in  the  House  of  Eimmon.  He  was  a  born 
courtier,  as  pliant  and  deferential  as  Laud  himself.  The 
Queen  visited  him  on  fifteen  separate  occasions,  and  '  fre- 
quently stayed  two  and  sometimes  three  days  at  Lambeth.'1 

Section  III.  —  The  Primacy  of  Edmund  Grindal 

1.  Episcopal  Changes  on  the  Death  of  Matthew  Parker.  — 
One  of  the  Primate's  last  acts  was  to  indite  a  letter  from 
his  death  -bed  to  his  royal  mistress,  in  his  somewhat 
neglected  capacity  as  her  spiritual  pastor.  Among  his 
admonitions  he  particularly  mentions  despoiling  the  Church, 
to  which  she  was  moved  '  upon  some  political  considera- 
tions, suggested  to  her  by  some  of  her  great  men'  —  Bacon 
and  Burghley  are  named  —  '  and  that  with  some  vehemency/ 
says  the  chronicler.  The  letter  was  not  sent,  owing,  it  was 
said,  to  the  shrewd  and  politic  advice  of  the  '  old  fox,' 
Andrew  Perne.  He,  however,  communicated  the  facts 
to  Whitgift,  then  at  Cambridge  patiently  awaiting  his 
bishopric.  Dean  Whitgift  had  been  effusively  deferential  to 
the  Archbishop,  '  having  been  so  much  beholden  to  [him] 
in  his  life.'  But  Parker  is  dead  and  can  render  no  further 
help.  The  astutest  move  is  now  to  burn  incense  at  the 
altar  of  Burleigh  :  next  the  Queen,  he  is  the  greatest  bishop- 
maker.  To  him,  therefore,  under  reiterated  exhortations 
of  secrecy,  Whitgift  reveals  the  secret  of  this  letter,  written, 
he  is  told,  '  with  great  bitterness.'  '  I  am  so  bound/  he  says, 
'  unto  your  Lordship,  that  I  cannot  of  duty  hear  any  such 
thing,  and  keep  it  from  you.'  2  He  was  presently  to  be 
further  bound  to  his  lordship. 

To  the  vacant  prirnateship  Edmund  Grindal  was,  strangely 
enough,  transferred  from  the  northern  episcopacy.  Perhaps 
the  authorities  were  losing  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of 

1  Nichols,  Progresses  of  Q.  Eliz.  i.  232  n. 
2  Strype,  Parker,  ii.  430. 


58  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

religious  persecution.  It  was  known  that  Burleigh,  on 
grounds  of  propriety  and  precedent,  believed  that  the  true 
route  for  the  Episcopal  Canterbury  pilgrim  was  vid  York. 
Sandys  replaced  Grindal.  He  found  relief  and  dignity  in 
the  archbishopric.  He  was  nothing  so  'stirring  and  stout 
a  man'  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of  coercion  against 
Protestant  Nonconformists  as  when  he  entered  upon  his 
London  duties.  In  his  place  a  much -chastened  man,  a 
disillusioned  idealist,  was  appointed.  Long  under  a  ban 
because  of  his  too  faithful  Harlorrowe,  John  Aylmer  was 
forgiven  his  reference  to  female  rulers,  and  was  allowed  to 
enter  upon  those  'thousands,'  from  which  formerly  he  had 
shouted  to  the  Bishops  to  'come  down.'  An  under-sized 
man,  he  was  known  to  have  that  species  of  courage  which 
entitles  a  self-assertive  dwarf  to  be  called  '  plucky.'  Martin 
Marprelate  recalls  that  he  fought  with  his  son-in-law,  Dr. 
Adam  Squire,  though  it  resulted  in  a  '  bloody  nose.' 1  He 
had  a  repute  for  his  valour  in  wielding  a  two-handed  sword. 
It  was  thought  he  had  daring  enough  to  grasp  the  London 
Puritan  nettle  firmly.  Meanwhile  the  death  of  Nicholas 
Bullingham 2  left  a  timely  opening  for  the  advancement  of 
Whitgift  to  the  See  of  Worcester.  •  A  strong  man  was 
wanted  on  the  Welsh  borders,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  Court  of  the  Marches. 

2.  The  Primacy  of  Edmund  Grindal. — In  his  earlier 
days  the  new  Primate  had  been  a  '  mass  priest,'  an  office 
which  later  he  regretted  to  have  held.  The  perusal  of  a 
treatise  on  the  Origin  of  Error  by  the  Zuinglian  divine, 
Henry  Bullinger,  converted  him  to  Protestantism.  The 
martyrs  Rogers  and  Bradford  were  associated  with  Grindal 
as  chaplains  to  the  martyr-bishop  Nicholas  Ridley,  who  was 
his  tutor.  So  that  Grindal's  antecedents  pointed  to  a  very 
definite  anti-papal  policy.  He  never  forgot  the  atrocities 
of  the  Church  which  burnt  his  eminent  master  and  his 
heroic  and  distinguished  colleagues.  Naturally  he  was 
a  man  of  a  tolerant  and  conciliatory  habit  of  mind.  He 
was  the  gentle  shepherd  Algrind  of  the  poet  Spenser.  In 
1  THE  EPISTLE,  37.  2  Ob.  April  18,  1576. 


INTRODUCTORY  59 

Elizabeth's  eyes,  apart  from  the  dignity  and  consistency  of 
his  character,  he  could  have  had  but  one  special  qualifica- 
tion for  a  Bishop — he  was  unmarried. 

When  he  entered  upon  his  new  office  he  obtained  from 
Convocation  a  series  of  fifteen  Visitation  Articles.  Of  these, 
the  last  referred  to  marriage  in  prohibited  seasons,  which 
in  the  printed  copies  was  found  to  be  omitted.  The  Queen 
was  averse  to  any  alteration  in  the  canonical  usage.  The 
remaining  articles  were  rules  '  touching  the  admission  of  fit 
persons  to  the  ministry ' ;  many  of  those  holding  office  at  the 
time  had  barely  a  schoolboy's  education.  Grindal's  articles 
aimed  at  their  exclusion. 

He  next  attacked  the  scandalous  Court  of  Faculties.  Its 
functions  he  divides  into  two  classes.  The  first  of  these 
comprised  matters  which  he  thought  might  fairly  be  left  to 
the  discretion  of  the  Court.  The  second  class  he  considered 
to  involve  grave  matters  of  principle.  He  asks  the  Council 
if  they  think  commendams  should  be  allowed  in  the  case  of 
poor  bishoprics ;  that  is,  in  most  cases,  in  sees  which  had 
been  plundered  by  the  previous  occupant.  He  asks  if 
pluralities  could  be  rightly  sanctioned  for  the  support  of 
learned  men,  and  whether  civil  lawyers  should  enjoy  ecclesi- 
astical promotion.  The  questions  are  really  and  in  substance 
whether  the  parishes  should  be  robbed  for  the  sake  of 
enriching  men  who  had  no  manner  of  claim  upon  their 
revenues.  With  other  irregularities  he  will  hold  no  parley. 
Trialities,  three  benefices  that  is,  held  by  one  person ; 
granting  benefices  to  children  and  juniors  ;  licences  to  marry 
without  banns ;  also,  and  especially,  the  obnoxious  faculty 
perinde  valere,  whereby  any  illegal  grant  could  be  made  good 
on  payment  of  a  fine — these  he  would  have  abolished 
outright  without  further  ado. 

The  Courts  of  Arches,  Audience,  and  Prerogative,  whose 
chief  end  was  to  afford  fees  and  perquisites  to  a  number  of 
insatiable  cormorants,  whose  existence  seems  inseparable 
from  a  State  establishment  of  religion,  were  then  considered. 
He  requested  the  opinion  of  four  eminent  civil  lawyers 
concerning  the  most  important  of  the  three,  the  Court  of 


60  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Arches.  Only  one  of  them  showed  that  he  had  any  sense 
of  the  real  evils  associated  with  this  ecclesiastical  tribunal. 
The  other  three  freely  admitted  its  disorderly  proceedings, 
bufc  the  last  person  they  were  thinking  of  was  the  plundered 
client.  Their  concern  was  with  the  improper  division  of 
privileges  and  fees  among  the  stated  officials  of  the  Court 
and  the  lawyers  practising  before  it. 

3.  The  Prophesying*. — A  marked  feature  in  the  primacy 
of  Grindal  was  the  favour  he  showed  to  the  local  confer- 
ences for  preaching  and  the  exposition  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  were  called  Prophesyings.  To  the  discourses  the 
public  were  admitted ;  but  a  second  meeting  was  reserved 
for  the  ministers,  at  which  the  public  utterance  was  privately 
and  critically  discussed.  The  Archbishop  thought  the 
practice  might  mitigate  the  scandal  occasioned  by  the  large 
numbers  of  unfit  persons  who  had  been  introduced  into  the 
ministry.  Here  was  an  opportunity  for  men  holding  the 
sacred  office  to  train  and  educate  themselves  in  their  clerical 
duties.  It  would  be  likely  to  stimulate  in  them  a  love  of 
their  proper  studies ;  induce  them  to  buy  and  read  books ; 
and,  above  all,  to  read  and  study  the  Bible.  It  was  hoped 
it  might  provoke  a  spirit  of  emulation  among  the  younger 
ministers,  stirring  within  them  an  ambition  to  excel  as 
expositors  and  evangelists.  Grindal  would  have  regularised 
these  voluntary  and  extra-canonical  gatherings ;  bringing 
them  under  the  general  control  of  the  ordinary ;  appointing 
to  each  conference  a  trustworthy  moderator,  and  allowing 
only  approved  men  to  take  part.  He  would  have  permitted 
only  selected  portions  of  Scripture  to  be  discussed,  and  thus 
avoiding  the  troublesome  text,  '  Tell  it  to  the  Church/  the 
opening  verses  of  the  23rd  chapter  of  Matthew,  which  forbids 
ministerial  ostentation,  or  the  22nd  of  Luke,  which  denounces 
1  lording  it '  after  the  manner  of  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles ; 
also  texts  which  proved  the  identity  of  Bishop  and  Elder. 
He  would  have  surrounded  the  exercises  with  restrictions 
against  criticising  adversely  any  state  or  person,  public  or 
private ;  or  speaking  in  disapproval  of  '  the  rites  of  the 
Church  of  England  established  by  public  authority.'  His 


INTRODUCTORY  61 

scheme,  moreover,  forbade  any  part  being  taken  by  a 
deprived  minister.1  With  all  these  provisos  the  prophesy- 
ings  would  have  been  harmless  enough.  The  strong  prob- 
ability is  that  the  restrictions  would  have  choked  them  out 
of  existence. 

In  giving  countenance  to  the  prophesyings  the  Arch- 
bishop had  considerable  support,  both  lay  and  clerical. 
Indeed  these  '  exercises '  seemed  to  have  been  used  in  most 
dioceses  in  the  years  1574  and  1575.  Parkhurst,  the 
Puritan  Bishop  of  Norwich,  was  naturally  among  the  first 
to  give  them  his  sanction.  His  authority  was  obtained  by 
the  ministers  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds  on  February  16,  1573.2 
Their  prevalence  in  his  diocese,  and  perhaps  the  unrestricted 
liberty  of  speech  which  his  tolerant  rule  allowed,  caused 
Parker,  probably  at  Elizabeth's  request,  to  send  Parkhurst 
a  personal  message  commanding  these '  vain  exercises '  to  be 
abolished.  To  parry  the  thrust  and  to  postpone  the  issue, 
Parkhurst,  in  acknowledging  his  Grace's  message,  asks  if  he 
is  only  to  suppress  them  when  they  are  '  vain.'  The  matter 
becomes  complicated  by  a  letter  addressed  to  Parkhurst  by 
Grindal  (then  Bishop  of  London)  and  three  members  of  the 
Privy  Council — Sir  Francis  Knollys,  Sir  Thomas  Smith, 
and  Sir  Walter  Mildmay — to  express  the  hope  that  he 
would  let  the  exercises  continue.8  There  is  some  further 
correspondence  between  Parkhurst  and  the  Primate,  also  a 
letter  asking  advice  from  the  writers  of  the  epistle  just 
referred  to  ;  but  in  the  end  the  Queen's  commands  prevailed. 
On  June  7th,  Parkhurst  sent  a  brief,  rigid  note  to  his  clergy, 
conveying,  without  any  personal  comment,  the  instructions 
of  the  Queen.4  Nevertheless  they  continued  in  vogue  in 
other  dioceses — in  Rochester  under  Bishop  Freke,  in  Chester 
under  Bishop  Chadderton,  and  also  in  Lincoln  under  Bishop 
Cooper,  we  have  the  conditions  under  which  they  were 
allowed ;  and  Grindal  tells  the  Queen  that  they  were  also 

1  Strype,  Grindal,  326,  327. 

2  Strype,  Annals,  n.  ii.  494. 

3  Parker,   Correspond.  456,  457  ;  Strype,  Parker,  ii.  360.      The  letter  is 
dated  May  6,  1574. 

4  Ibid.  362. 


62  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

favoured  by  the  Bishops  of  Winchester,  Lichfield,  Bath  and 
Wells,  Gloucester,  Exeter,  St.  David's. 

In  the  autumn  of  1576,  the  Queen  determines  that 
they  must  be  everywhere  suppressed ;  principally  because 
they  were  not  authorised,  and  thus  infringed  upon  her  pre- 
rogative ;  also  because  they  introduced  '  novelties.'  She 
communicated  her  views  to  Grindal  in  her  peremptory 
manner.  '  The  speeches  she  used  to  him  were  somewhat 
sharp,'  nor  would  she  give  the  Primate  an  opportunity  to 
answer  her  objections.  He  therefore  addressed  to  her  a 
rather  lengthy  letter, c  written  with  mine  own  rude  scribbling 
hand/  While  couched  in  respectful  terms,  it  is  a  very 
faithful  letter,  and  does  the  writer  honour.  It  is  not  easy 
to  tell  monarchs  unwelcome  truths,  especially  such  a  terma- 
gant as  Elizabeth.  Grindal  had  little  difficulty  in  showing 
her  that  the  command  to  preach,  to  make  known  the 
Gospel  message,  is  a  universal  feature  of  the  New  Testament. 
Of  practical  injunctions  it  is  the  first  and  the  most  frequent; 
a  duty  to  be  fulfilled  c  in  season,  out  of  season.'  Vae  mihi 
est  nisi,  si  non  evangelizavero.  The  letter  contains  passages 
of  great  nobility  of  spirit,  in  which  the  plain  minister  of 
Christ  reminds  the  chief  member  of  his  flock  that  she  is 
mortal,  and  must  presently  give  an  account  of  herself  to  a 
Prince  and  Judge  of  a  higher  ordination  than  her  own. 
'  God  hath  blessed  you  with  great  felicity  in  your  reign, 
now  many  years ;  beware  that  you  do  'not  impute  the  same 
to  your  own  deserts  or  policy,  but  give  God  the  glory.'  * 

Destitute  of  all  vital  religion  as  she  was,  Elizabeth  saw 
nothing  in  Grindal's  grave  expostulation  but  a  refusal  to 
obey  her  royal  commands.  She  was  furious  at  such  pre- 
sumption, and  setting  aside  the  Primate,  in  true  Papal  style 
she  addressed  her  commands  direct  to  the  several  Bishops. 
She  also  composed  what  appears  to  be  a  circular  letter  to 
them  in  common,  in  which  she  denounces  the  '  prophesyings ' 
because  they  encouraged  idleness  by  taking  people  away 
from  their  honest  labours,  and  also  promoted  schism  and 
other  evils.  Elizabeth  had  strong  views  on  the  '  foolishness 

1  Strype,  Grindal,  558-574. 


INTRODUCTORY  63 

of  preaching.'  '  It  was  good  for  the  Church  to  have  few 
preachers  .  .  .  three  or  four  might  suffice  for  a  county.' 1 
She  is  peremptory  with  the  Bishops.  She  warns  them  of 
remissness  in  putting  down  the  exercises,  so  that  she  '  be 
not  forced  to  make  some  example  in  reforming  of  you 
according  to  your  deserts.' 2 

From  the  country  came  pitiable  complaints  of  the 
spiritual  darkness  and  the  gross  superstition  prevailing 
amongst  the  people.  They  confess  that  while  hitherto  they 
had  spent  their  holy  days  in  drinking  and  dicing,  they  had 
now,  in  the  power  of  this  new  movement,  given  themselves 
to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  had  amended  their  ways. 
They  repudiate  the  common  slander  that  they  favoured  the 
opinions  of  the  'Anabaptists,  Puritans,  Papists,  or  Liber- 
tines.' The  same  is  the  evidence  given  by  Harrison  in  his 
well  -  known  Descriptions  of  Britaine  and  England.  He 
describes  the  mode  of  conducting  these  meetings,  and 
declares  that  they  were  'a  notable  spurre  vnto  all  the 
ministers  thereby  to  applie  their  bookes,  which  otherwise  (as 
in  times  past)  would  giue  themselues  to  hawking,  hunting, 
tables,  cards,  dice,  tipling  at  the  alehouse,  shooting  [of 
matches],  and  other  like  vanities.' 3  This  from  a  beneficed 
clergyman,  published  ten  years  after  the  Queen's  prohibition, 
is  a  noteworthy  declaration  of  opinion.  Philip  Stubbes,  in 
his  Anatomic  of  Abuses,  speaks  for  the  educated  men  of  his 
time,  when  he  declares  preaching  to  be  as  necessary  to  the 
soul  as  food  to  the  body.  The  deputies  of  absentee  holders 
of  benefices,  he  says,  are  often  '  fitter  to  feed  hogs  than 
soules.'  The  defence  of  pluralists,  that  they  preach  in  each 
of  their  churches  once  a  quarter,  he  thinks  no  better  than  to 
plough  a  furrow  once  a  quarter  and  then  to  expect  a 
harvest.4 

4.  The  Sequestered  Primate. — Grindal  felt  deeply  that 
Elizabeth  was  usurping  his  office.  In  truth  he  was  in  an 
impossible  position ;  paying  the  penalty,  which  men  must 

1  Strype,  Grindal,  329.  2  Ibid.  574. 

3  Op.  cit.  Furnivall's  ed.  17-19. 
4  Op.  cit.  Furnivall's  ed.  Part  II.  76-78. 


64  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

pay,  who  compromise  on  what  to  them  are  vital  principles. 
He  was  endeavouring  to  exercise  a  spiritual  ministry, 
through  the  agency  of  a  worldly  and  temporising  organisa- 
tion ;  trying  to  make  the  best  of  both  worlds,  and  condemned 
equally  by  the  representatives  of  the  one  and  the  other. 
The  Queen  treated  him  as  a  disobedient  and  cranky  pre- 
cisian. The  zealous  reformers  reminded  him  of  his  own 
former  utterance.  Samson,  who  shared  his  poverty  at 
Zurich  in  the  days  of  the  Exile,  flouts  his  defence  of  his 
worldly  pomp  and  estate.  He  tells  Grindal  that  if  he, 
'  whom  worldly  policy  had  made  a  lord,  kept  the  humility 
of  an  humble  brother  and  minister  of  the  Gospel,  he  was  a 
phoenix ;  but  his  post,  his  train  of  waiting-men  in  the 
streets,  his  gentlemen-ushers  going  before  him  with  bare 
heads,  and  his  family  full  of  idle  serving-men,  looked  very 
lordly/ l  Grindal  ought  to  have  known  the  exiguous 
measure  of  earnest  progressive  Gospel  propaganda,  which 
would  be  allowed  in  a  Church  of  which  Elizabeth  was 
'chief  governor,'  and  whose  first  ruling  canon  was  the 
caprice  of  her  vain  and  secular  heart.  He,  at  least,  ought 
to  have  known  not  only  the  futility  of  serving  two  masters, 
but  the  sorrows  that  are  inseparable  from  the  attempt.  At 
the  very  time  that  Elizabeth  is  treating  him  as  a  menial, 
the  Alenqon  amours  are  at  their  height,  and  a  foreign 
ambassador  is  reporting  that  she  '  always  mentioned  the 
Pope  with  the  greatest  respect/  and  declared  that  the 
Calvinists  were  '  criminals  whose  desire  it  was  to  destroy 
allegiance  to  princes/ 2  Grindal,  addressing  her  Majesty 
through  the  friendly  aid  of  Burleigh  and  Leicester,  pointed 
out  to  her  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  bred  loyalty ;  as 
she  could  see  for  herself  when  she  visited  the  city.  The 
northern  parts  were  largely  Catholic,  and  they  were  the 
nursery  of  rebellion.  He  again  showed  her  the  eminent 
advantages  to  be  derived  by  ministers  from  the  prophesyings. 
Her  Majesty,  he  concludes,  could,  if  she  thought  fit,  remove 
him ;  but  she  must  bear  with  him  if  he  chose  rather  to 

1  Neal's  History,  i.  267. 
a   Venetian  State  Papers,  viii.  32. 


INTRODUCTORY  65 

offend  her  than  God.  This  was  not  the  language  of  the 
sycophants,  civil  and  ecclesiastic,  who  surrounded  the 
Queen.  Lord  North,  when  bullying  Bishop  Cox,  at  the 
Queen's  instructions,  into  giving  up  Ely  House  in  Holborn 
to  Hatton,  '  a  man  much  favoured  of  her  Highnes/  asked 
the  Bishop  to  remember  that  he  was  denying  that  '  most 
gratious  and  bountifull  Mistress,  who  hath  abled  yowe  even 
from  the  meanest  estate  that  maye  be,  unto  the  best 
Byshopricke  in  Englande,  a  thing  worth  three  thousand 
pounde  by  yere,'  and  he  ventures  to  say  that  '  she  is  oure 
God  in  earth ;  if  ther  be  perfection  in  flesh  and  blud 
undoughtedlye  it  is  in  hir  Maiestye.' * 

Nothing  more  high-handed  is  recorded  of  Elizabeth  than 
the  startling  severity  with  which  she  treated  the  Arch- 
bishop. Upon  her  personal  authority  she  ordered  him  to 
be  confined  to  his  house,  and  his  office  to  be  sequestered. 
She  arrogated  to  herself,  independently  of  any  council, 
without  reference  to  the  Church  itself,  the  right  to  remove 
its  chief  pastor,  and  to  determine  its  discipline.  Many 
efforts  were  made  to  reconcile  the  differences  between 
Queen  and  Primate,  Grindal  himself  yielding  as  far  as  he 
was  able.  They  had  not  the  slightest  effect  upon  Eliza- 
beth's fixed  resolution ;  though  the  Archbishop  still  con- 
tinued to  perform  a  large  part  of  his  administrative  duties. 
She  formally  applied  for  his  resignation,  and,  as  though 
some  passing  womanly  sense  of  her  harsh  and  outrageous 
conduct  dawned  upon  her,  she  sent  the  aged  Prelate,  at  the 
beginning  of  1583,  a  silver  cup  as  a  New  Year's  gift.  He 
had  become  blind,  but  cheerfully  hoped  to  recover  his  sight, 
and  to  be  able  to  continue  his  duties.  But  as  the  Queen 
was  unrelenting,  he  desired  to  postpone  his  resignation  till 
Michaelmas,  so  as  to  have  funds  to  meet  his  obligations ; 
also  to  be  freed  from  any  claims  of  dilapidation  on  the  part 
of  his  successor ;  and  to  be  allowed  to  retain  his  house  at 
Croydon,  with  a  small  parcel  of  land  adjoining.  But  the 
Queen  would  brook  no  delay.  A  merciful  mediator,  how- 
ever, intervened.  On  July  6th  Grindal  died.  He  was 

1  Gal.  of  Cecil  Papers,  Part  II.  pp.  120,  121. 

F 


66  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

greatly  esteemed  by  all  Protestants  except  those  whom  his 
reforms  would  have  displaced  from  office,  or  deprived  of 
their  sinecure  emoluments.  Sandys,  his  successor  at  York, 
accuses  him  of  corruptly  seizing,  before  he  left  for  Canter- 
bury, six  score  leases  and  patents  for  his  kinsmen  and 
servants.  The  number  seems  incredible,  though  Sandys 
declares  that  four  score  of  them  were  confirmed  by  the  Dean 
and  Chapter  of  York. 

5.  Aylmer  persecuting   Papist  and  Puritan. — The  new 
Bishop  of  London  showed  no  favour  to  those  who  held  by 
the  views  he  had  so  vigorously  championed  in  the  Harborowe ; 
but  neither  did  he  show  any  tolerance  to  Popish  recusants. 
While    Elizabeth    was    scandalising    the    Court  by  openly 
exchanging  rings  and  kisses  with  d'Alen^on,  Aylmer  entered 
con  amore  on  the  task   of  discovering   Popish   plots.     He 
found  that  the  Catholics   everywhere   cherished,  unabated, 
the  hope  of  a  foreign  and  Catholic  invasion  of  their  native 
land — the   enterprise   culminated   in   1588.     The   Bishop 
might  have  gained  more  information,  but  for  the  taciturnity 
of  the  prisoners.     He  suggests  that  the  rack  might  make 
them  more  communicative.     So  eager  was  he  in  this  busi- 
ness that  Burleigh  pressed  upon  him  the  task  of  answering 
Campion's    Ten    Reasons.       But    he    shrank    from    further 
authorship,  and   suggested   a   Commission   of  Bishops  and 
others   to  be  entrusted   with   the   task.       When,   however, 
Campion   was   arrested,   Aylmer   was    all    too    forward   in 
arranging  a  discussion  between  him  and  some  Protestant 
controversialists.     It  made  so  much  noise  that  it  seriously 
interfered  with  Elizabeth's  diplomatic  love-making  with  her 
Catholic  suitor.     The  Bishop  had  to  be  reprimanded.     The 
reformers  were  on  their  part  equally  bitter  against  Aylmer. 
They  regarded  him  as  a  shameful  renegade.     In  exile  and 
penury  he  had  professed  the  faith  with  an  energy  and  a 
clearness  which  none  of  his  contemporaries  had  surpassed. 
Many  besides  Martin  Marprelate  had  asked  in  later  days  if 
Aylmer  were  faithful  to  his  denunciation  of  the  vain  pomp 
and  show  of  the  episcopacy  who  would  then  be  Bishop  of 
London.      They  saw  that  his  former  zeal  for   Puritanism 


INTRODUCTORY  67 

was  perverted  into  an  implacable  hatred  towards  all  its 
unpurchasable  professors ;  that  his  one-time  scorn  for  riches 
was  transmuted  into  a  greed  for  wealth,  in  which  he  prob- 
ably outbishoped  all  the  avaricious  prelates  of  Elizabeth's 
reign.  The  Nonconformists  suffered  much  from  his  perse- 
cution. If  he  had  had  his  way,  he  would  have  banished 
them  all  from  his  diocese  into  the  remote  northern  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  where,  he  thought,  they  might  safely  exercise 
their  gifts  against  the  Papists. 

6.  Whitgift' s  Zeal  at  Worcester. — On  his  appointment  as 
Bishop,  the  Queen  wrote  to  Whitgift  to  suppress  the  pro- 
phesyings.  He  was  not  among  the  number  of  those  quoted 
by  Grindal  as  favouring  the  exercises.  The  Queen  declared 
to  him  that  her  intention  was  to  have  '  an  uniform  unity 
maintained  among  our  clergy  and  our  other  good  subjects.' 
Whitgift  soon  found  that  his  business  lay  chiefly  with 
Roman  recusants.  In  this  and  in  the  general  administrative 
work  of  his  See  he  displayed  great  energy  and  ability  of  the 
bureaucratic  order.  He  was  sleepless  in  routing  out  the 
secret  conclaves  of  the  Catholics,  full  reports  of  his  pro- 
ceedings being  furnished  to  the  Privy  Council.  But  the 
machinery  of  the  Court  of  the  Marches  was  too  slow  for 
this  fiery  little  persecutor.  He  therefore  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  Special  Commission  to  deal  with  his  cases, 
under  which  he,  and  certain  Welsh  Bishops,  were  assigned 
powers  of  summary  jurisdiction,  '  exclusive  of  others/  And 
finding  much  difficulty  with  intractable  witnesses  who 
refused  to  accuse  themselves  or  their  friends,  he  also 
obtained  authority  to  employ  what  the  historian,  ashamed, 
no  doubt,  of  the  fact,  has  mitigated  into  'some  kind  of 
torture.' l  In  the  affairs  of  his  own  cathedral  church  his 
strong  will  quickly  made  itself  felt.  The  purlieus  of  the 
Court  were  overrun  with  crowds  of  harpies  waiting  to 
secure  ecclesiastical  benefice.  The  Queen's  favourites  grew 
rich  on  this  unholy  plunder.  But  Whitgift  fought  with 
terrier-like  tenacity  for  the  retention  of  his  lands  at 
Hartlebury.  He  also  succeeded  in  getting  the  cathedral 

1  Strype,  Whitgift,  i.  168. 


68  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

prebends  into  his  own  hands,  and  then  proceeded  to  fill  the 
stalls  with  his  own  thick  and  thin  supporters,  a  policy 
which  we  shall  find  him  consistently  pursuing  throughout 
his  long  official  life.  It  explains  to  a  large  extent  how  he 
was  able  to  exercise  so  great  an  influence  in  the  affairs  of 
the  country  and  to  resist  the  attacks  of  his  enemies. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   FIRST   YEARS   OF   WHITGIFT'S    PRIMACY 
1583-1593 

Section  I. — His  Prompt  and  Determined  Measures 

1.  His  Qualifications. — Upon  the  death  of  Grindal  it  was 
evident  that  the  Bishop  of  Worcester  was  the  fittest  man 
on  the  Episcopal  bench  to  carry  out  the  ecclesiastical  ideas 
of  Elizabeth.  He  was  unmarried ;  as  a  Government  official 
he  had  been  '  found  blameless ' ;  he  had  no  weak  scruples, 
such  as  at  one  time  or  other  broke  out  in  all  those  who  had 
been  in  exile,  and  made  them  uncertain  weapons  in  the 
hands  of  her  Majesty ;  if  necessary,  he  could  give  a  turn  or 
two  to  the  screw  of  the  rack,  without  blenching,  should 
recusants  or  schismatics  call  their  secret  souls  their  own ; 
and  he  was  prepared  to  defend  the  established  order  of 
religion  in  every  detail  and  particular :  the  State  Church 
was  the  finest  piece  of  ecclesiastical  machinery  in  Europe ; 
moreover  it  was  ordained  by  her  Majesty ;  they,  therefore, 
who  opposed  the  established  order,  and  the  Bishops  were 
integral  parts  of  that  order,  opposed  the  Queen,  and  were 
a  fortiori  traitors  as  well  as  schismatics.  Clearly  Whitgift 
was  the  man.  A  month  after  Grindal's  death  he  was 
transferred  from  Worcester  to  Canterbury.  His  consecra- 
tion took  place  at  Lambeth  on  the  23.rd  of  September  1583. 
Upon  his  entry  into  the  archiepiscopal  office,  Elizabeth  gave 
him  definite  instructions  as  to  the  policy  he  was  to  pursue. 
She  charged  him  '  to  restore  the  discipline  of  the  church, 
and  the  uniformity  established  by  law.'  '  This,'  she  added, 

69 


70  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

'  through  the  connivance  of  some  prelates,  the  obstinacy  of 
the  Puritans,  and  the  power  of  some  noblemen  is  run  out  of 
square.' l 

2.  Whitgift's  New  Articles. — Without  delay,  before  the 
month  of  September  was  out,  the  Archbishop  entered  upon 
his  long  campaign  of  coercion.  He  submitted  to  the  Queen 
a  series  of  Articles  for  her  approval,  by  which  she  might  see 
that  he  did  not  mean  to  trifle  with  the  task  of  bringing  the 
Church  into  '  an  uniform  unity '  such  as  she  desired.  He 
began  by  asking  for  her  Majesty's  '  streight  order '  that  the 
laws  against  recusants  already  existing  should  be  duly 
executed.  He  desired  that  the  press  censorship  should  be 
vested  in  himself  and  the  Bishop  of  London.  That  only 
the  authorised  editions  of  the  Bible  and  New  Testament 
should  be  allowed  to  be  printed ;  and  no  annotations,  except 
they  be  sanctioned,  be  added  to  the  text, — the  notes  in 
Tyndale's  and  the  Geneva  versions  were  often  militantly 
Protestant ;  that  a  household  devotional  meeting,  if  a 
stranger  be  present,  should  be  'utterly  inhibited,  seeing 
the  same  was  never  permitted  as  lawfull  under  Christian 
magistrates ' ;  that  preachers  and  catechists  be  silenced, 
unless  '  four  times  in  the  yeare  at  least '  they  '  say  service 
and  minister  sacraments  according  to  the  Booke  of  Common 
Prayer ' ;  that  no  dispensations  to  absentees  be  granted ; 
that  only  the  authorised  (Bishops')  Bible  be  used  in  public 
service ;  that  commutation  of  penance  be  refused  except 
upon  great  consideration;  that  the  Bishops  upon  their 
significavit  be  allowed  to  issue  writs  De  Excommunicatio 
Capiendo,  without  incurring  any  charges,  which  should  be 
deducted  from  the  fines  imposed  [more  suo  he  tells  the 
Queen  that  this  would  increase  the  number  of  writs  and 
increase  her  income] ;  that  sheriffs  should  be  enjoined 
forthwith  to  imprison  those  committed  under  the  just- 
mentioned  writ ;  that  preachers  wear  the  prescribed  apparel ; 
that  only  priests  and  deacons,  and  such  as  have  legal 
authorisation  be  allowed  to  preach ;  that  orders  be  granted 
only  to  those  having  a  presentation  to  a  benefice  in  the 

1  Brook,  Lives,  i.  45,  quoting  White  Rennet's  Hist.  ii.  494. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  71 

Bishop's  diocese,  or  an  appointment  to  a  place  in  a  cathedral 
or  collegiate  church  or  in  one  of  the  universities,  and  are 
not  less  than  twenty-four  years  of  age;  that  no  Bishop 
shall  ordain  any  from  another  diocese  except  they  bring 
'  letters  dismissary,  or  are  university  graduates,  which  all 
must  be,  or  at  least  be  able  to  give  an  account  of  their 
faith  in  Latin,  and  in  the  latter  case  the  applicant  must 
produce  a  testimonial  to  his  moral  character;  the  Arch- 
bishop, with  the  assistance  of  another  Bishop,  shall  have 
authority  to  prohibit  any  Bishop  ordaining  otherwise  than 
according  to  these  conditions,  'from  admitting  any  into 
orders  for  the  space  of  two  yeares ' ;  that  the  Archbishop, 
either  on  his  own  authority  or  by  the  Queen's  allowance, 
be  empowered  to  quash  proceedings  taken  against  a  Bishop 
for  refusing  ordination  to  an  unfit  person ;  that  only  under 
special  circumstances  should  marriage  without  banns  be 
allowed.  Moreover,  no  one,  whatever  authority  he  may 
have  received,  shall  be  allowed  to  preach  except  he  subscribe 
to  three  special  Articles.1 

The  Queen  showed  her  superior  authority  by  not  granting 
all  the  Articles  forthwith.  The  press  censorship,  dispensa- 
tions to  absentees,  and  the  conditions  under  which  the  writ 
De  Excommunicatio  Capiendo  should  be  issued,  were  omitted 
from  the  Articles  as  issued  with  the  signatures  of  Whitgift 
and  the  Bishops  of  his  province.  But  he  persisted,  and  the 
missing  items  received  the  Queen's  allowance.  The  first  of 
the  three  special  Articles  which  the  clergy  were  required 
to  subscribe  was  also  recast,  though  its  substance  remained 
the  same.2  It  related  to  the  royal  supremacy.  The  third 
demanded  acceptance  of  the  (Thirty -nine)  Articles  of 
Eeligion.  To  most  of  the  Nonconformists  these  two  Articles 
gave  no  trouble.  They  recognised  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Crown  over  all  persons,  civil  and  ecclesiastical  alike,  and 
they  detested  the  claim  of  the  Pope,  or  any  other  foreigner, 
priest  or  prince,  to  have  dominion  in  England.  The  creed, 
too,  they  accept  with  trifling  provisos  '  of  a  godly  sort.'  It 
was  the  second  Article  which,  in  the  hands  of  the  Bishops, 
1  Second  Parte  of  a  Register,  391.  2  Strype,  Whitgift,  i.  228-33. 


72  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

became  an  intolerant  instrument  of  oppression.  The 
minister  was  required  to  declare  that  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  and  the  '  Pontifical/  that  prescribing  the  ordering  of 
Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  '  contained  nothing  contrary 
to  the  word  of  God.'  It  was  an  Article  which,  apart  from 
the  specific  objections  which  thorough  Protestants  had  to 
certain  survivals  of  Romanism  in  the  ritual,  no  enlightened 
man,  who  made  his  solemn  subscription  a  matter  of  con- 
science, could  sign,  or  indeed  ought  to  sign.  Again  and 
again  in  the  persecutions  of  the  clergy,  before  the  High 
Commission,  the  more  peaceable  and  moderate  among  them 
offered  to  sign  the  first  and  third  Articles,  also  to  use  the 
Book  generally,  but  they  scrupled  to  sign  the  second 
Article.  It  committed  them,  for  instance,  to  the  statement 
that  the  absurd  legends  contained  in  the  portions  of  the 
Apocrypha  included  in  the  lectionary  were  not  '  contrary  to 
the  word  of  God.' J 

1  The  following  edifying  colloquy  between  Whitgift  and  Thomas  Under- 
down,  the  able  minister  of  Lewes,  at  an  interview  held  at  Lambeth  on 
December  5th,  in  this  same  year,  is  typical  of  much  that  followed  during  the 
first  half  of  Whitgift's  primacy,  except  that  hereafter  the  Nonconformists 
appeared  as  accused  persons,  and  were  treated  with  an  ever-increasing  harsh- 
ness. Underdown,  among  other  things,  had  objected  to  the  Apocrypha  ; 
the  conversation  then  proceeds — 

Archbishop.  All  the  apocrypha  is  not  appointed  to  be  read,  but  those  parts 
which  are  most  edifying.  And  the  ancient  fathers  permitted  them  to  be  read 
in  the  church. 

Underdown.  Not  some  detached  parts  only,  my  Lord,  but  whole  books  are 
appointed. 

Arch.  What  errors  in  doctrine  and  practice  do  they  contain  ? 

Und.  Raphael  maketh  a  lie,  Tobit  v.  15. 

Arch.  If  this  be  a  lie,  then  the  angels  lied  to  Abraham,  by  seeming  to  have 
bodies  and  to  eat,  when  they  had  no  bodies  and  did  not  eat :  And  Christ,  when 
He  seemed  to  intend  going  farther  than  Ernmaus  :  And  God,  when  He  destroyed 
not  Nineveh. 

Und.  The  cases  are  not  alike. — Again,  the  devil  is  said  to  have  loved  Sara, 
Tobit  vi.  16,  which  is  fabulous. 

Arch.  Is  it  strange  to  you  that  the  devil  should  love  men  and  women  ?  Do 
you  think  the  devil  doth  not  love  ? 

Und.  In  Ecclesiasticus  xlvi.  20  it  is  said  that  Samuel  preached  after  he  was  dead. 

Arch.  It  is  controverted  whether  this  were  Samuel  or  some  evil  spirit. 

Und.  What  writers  are  of  this  opinion  ? 

Arch.   What  point  of  faith  is  it  to  believe  it  was  Samuel  ? 

Und.  A  principal  point,  my  Lord.  For  (Rev.  xiv.  13)  it  is  said,  that  the  souls 
of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  rest  from  their  labours  ;  which  is 
not  true,  if  they  be  at  the  call  of  a  witch  or  sorcerer  to  do  those  things  which 
while  they  lived  they  would  not  have  done. 

The  conference  was  continued  the    following  day,   when    the    Archbishop 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  73 

These  Visitation  Articles  had  also  an  eye  to  the  Catholic 
propaganda,  now  strenuously  pushed  by  a  new  order  of 
priest.  The  old  easy-going  and,  generally,  ignorant  Mass- 
priest,  who  had  served  under  the  last  three  reigns,  and 
found  little  to  trouble  him  in  accommodating  himself  to 
the  scheme  of  Elizabeth,  having  grown  accustomed  to  the 
successive  changes  of  formula,  was  a  vastly  different  person 
from  the  young  priest,  a  regular  probably  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  trained  in  one  of  the  Eomish  colleges  opened  in 
various  parts  of  the  Continent  for  the  education  of  English 
students,  now  stealing  furtively  into  the  country.  By  the 
necessities  of  his  situation  he  lost  any  national  feeling  he 
may  have  ever  had;  he  was  a  servant  of  one  of  two 
foreigners,  or  of  both ;  the  Pope  and  Philip  of  Spain.  He 
had  come  to  destroy  any  loyalty  the  old  English  Catholic 
families  may  have  retained  for  their  Queen.  He  had  come 
to  enlist  traitorous  stipendiaries  in  the  name  of  Philip. 
When  the  great  blow  should  in  due  course  be  given,  half 
the  battle  would  be  won  by  the  time  the  invading  army 
approached  the  English  shores,  by  the  uprising  of  the  dis- 
loyal Papists  within  the  gates.  This  new  order  of  soldier- 
priest  was  under  the  generalship  of  the  Jesuit  Parsons. 
He  carried  about  with  him  copies  of  Campion's  Ten  Reasons. 
Alert,  eager,  desperate,  prepared  for  the  rack  or  the  gallows, 
he  was  a  foe  to  be  reckoned  with.  Elizabeth's  tortuous 
diplomacy,  and  the  necessity  she  was  under  from  time  to 
time  of  pretending  to  be  under  the  sway  of  Catholic  ideas ; 
her  love  of  the  theatrical  in  the  cult  of  Rome ;  her  periodic 
trifling  with  the  ill-starred  ( idol/  the  silver  crucifix ;  her 
casual  whim  to  have  altar-lights  in  her  private  chapel, — all 
made  the  task  of  a  courtier-prelate  the  more  perplexing. 
Secretly  she  most  feared  the  power  of  the  Papist ;  but 
beyond  all  doubt  she  hated  most  the  scruple  of  the  Puritan. 

rehearsed  the  substance  of  the  first  day's  proceedings,  '  with  some  enlarge- 
ment upon  the  devil's  loving  women.'  Bishop  Aylmer  then  adding  his 
wisdom  to  the  views  of  the  Primate,  said,  '  If  you  had  read  either  divinity 
or  philosophy,  it  would  not  be  strange  to  you  that  the  devil  should  love 
women.'  To  which  Underdown  simply  replied,  'My  Lord,  we  have  not 
learned  any  such  divinity.' — Brook,  Lives,  i.  266,  269. 


74  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

In  relation  to  Popery  she  stood  in  marked  contrast  to  her 
father.  Henry's  innovations  were  in  the  external  machinery 
of  the  Church ;  the  creed  of  Rome  he  professed  to  the  last. 
Elizabeth  accepted  the  faith  of  Protestantism  without 
demur ;  but  she  retained  as  much  of  the  external  form  and 
vesture  of  Rome  as  the  new  situation  would  suffer  her  to 
have. 

Section  II. — The  New  '  High  Commission ' 

1.  The  Demand  for  a  more  Formidable  Court. — Whitgift 
soon  realised  that  he  could  not  rest  with  issuing  his  in- 
junctions. He  found  that  the  dogged  spirit  of  the  reform- 
ing party  cared  little  for  ecclesiastical  censures.  He  re- 
quired power  to  coerce  men  into  conformity  to  his  ideas. 
His  controversial  experiences  with  the  chief  Puritans  were 
not  encouraging.  Men  like  Underdown,  and  Dr.  Sparke, 
who,  as  Martin  Marprelate  frequently  reminded  him,  gave 
Whitgift  the  '  non  plus ' ; 1  like  the  quaint  and  vivacious 
Wigginton,  and  others,  effectually  cured  him  of  any  ex- 
pectation that  he  could  further  and  popularise  his  ecclesi- 
astical compromise  by  personal  argument,  or  substantiate 
his  position  by  a  reference  to  the  text  of  Scripture.  He 
became  frankly  a  persecutor ;  of  him  it  was  as  true  as  of 
Laud,  that  he  would  never  waste  time  in  persuading  an 
opponent  if  he  had  power  to  suppress  him.  He  therefore 
appealed  to  the  Queen,  in  a  paper  of  reasons,  for  a  new 
Commission  for  Causes  Ecclesiastical,  to  enable  him  more 
effectively  to  search  for  unlawful  books,  and  to  deal  effec- 
tively with  '  disordered  persons  commonly  called  Puritans.' 
For  without  the  coercive  High  Commission,  to  give  it  its 
popular  name,  the  Ecclesiastical  Law,  he  declared,  was  '  a  car- 
case without  a  soul.'  He  was  urgent  in  his  request ;  even 
six  months'  delay  might  be  disastrous.  His  plea  was  granted 
by  the  Queen.  The  new  Commission  was  constituted  in 
the  December  following  his  assumption  of  the  primacy.2 

This  was  the  sixth  Commission  granted  by  Elizabeth ; 

1  THE  EPISTLE,  45.  *  Strype,  Whitg.  i.  266. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  75 

it  was  distinctly  the  most  tyrannical  of  the  series.  At  its 
formation  it  consisted  of  forty-four  members,  twelve  Bishops, 
certain  chief  ministers  of  the  Crown,  Sir  Francis  Knollys 
and  Sir  Francis  Walsingham  among  them,  the  chief  legal 
officers  of  State,  and  a  number  of  deans,  archdeacons,  and 
civil  lawyers.  Its  function  was  to  '  inquire  into  all  heretical 
opinions,  seditious  books,  conspiracies,  false  rumours/  etc,, 
'to  hear,  and  determine  concerning  the  premises,  and  to 
correct,  reform,  and  punish  all  persons  .  .  .  obstinately 
absent  from  church ' ;  'to  visit  and  reform  all  errors, 
heresies,  and  schisms,  etc.,  which  may  be  lawfully  reformed 
or  restrained  by  censures  ecclesiastical,  deprivation  or  other- 
wise, according  to  the  power  and  authority,  limited  and 
approved  by  the  laws,  etc.* ;  also  to  deprive  of  their 
benefices  all  who  maintained  any  doctrine  contrary  to  the 
Thirty  -  nine  Articles.  The  chief  engine  of  Whitgift's 
tyranny  remains  to  be  noted.  The  Commission  was  given 
authority  to  examine  all  suspected  persons  '  on  their  cor- 
poral oath  ' ;  those  who  proved  '  obdurate  and  disobedient ' 
were  to  be  punished  by  excommunication,  censures  ecclesi- 
astical, fine,  or  imprisonment ;  the  imprisonment  to  con- 
tinue until  the  Court  enlarge  them,  and  they  have  paid 
'  such  costs  and  expenses  of  suit  as  the  cause  shall  require.' 
This,  coupled  with  the  authority  to  seize,  apprehend,  or  to 
compel  the  sheriffs  and  their  officers  to  apprehend,  such 
persons  as  they  '  thought  meet  to  be  convened '  before  them, 
make  this  instrument  of  ecclesiastical  oppression  complete. 
At  one  stroke  it  practically  neutralised  every  liberty 
achieved  by  the  nation  from  Magna  Charta  downwards. 
Large  numbers  of  reformers  of  all  sections,  and  of  every 
social  rank,  were  apprehended  under  this  authority,  but 
advanced  no  further  in  their  examination  than  their  refusal 
to  take  the  preliminary  'corporal  oath.'  This,  of  itself, 
was  accounted  sufficient  proof  that  they  were  '  obdurate 
and  disobedient.'  On  this  ground  they  were  summarily 
condemned  to  prison,  some  of  them  remaining  there  for 
years  without  knowing  the  nature  of  the  charge  which  led 
to  their  apprehension. 


76  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

2.  The  Unpopularity  of  the  New  Court. — So  intolerable 
did  the  tyranny  of  the  High  Commission  become  during 
the  next  seven  or  eight  years,  so  great  was  the  storm  of 
obloquy  and  indignant  protest  which  it  brought  upon 
Whitgift,  that,  though  himself  the  inventor  of  its  draconic 
clauses  and  a  firm  believer  in  their  merit,  he  was  fain  at 
last  to  get  recalcitrant  Nonconformists  tried,  by  preference, 
before  the  Court  of  Star  Chamber.1 

The  alleged  legality  of  the  High  Commission  rested  upon 
the  statute  1  Eliz. — the  Act  of  Supremacy,  a  clause  in 
which  empowered  the  Queen  to  exercise  this  branch  of 
her  prerogative  through  Commissioners  appointed  under  the 
great  seal.2  But  its  legality  was  always  strongly  contested, 
constitutional  authorities  maintaining  that  no  clause  in  an 
Act  whose  chief  end  was  the  reviving  of  the  instruments 
of  law  as  they  existed  in  previous  reigns,  could  override 
the  whole  body  of  the  common  law  of  the  land.  The 
authority  claimed  by  the  Bishops  for  this  clause  not  only 
made  Elizabeth  an  irresponsible  autocrat  in  affairs  ecclesi- 
astical,— in  those  days  a  very  comprehensive  term, — but, 
even  worse,  transferred  that  irresponsible  autocracy  to  a 
Court  ruled  by  a  narrow,  vindictive  priest  like  Whitgift. 
The  full  tale  of  the  iniquitous  oppressions  of  this  Court 
might  well  be  gathered  into  a  separate  volume.  '  It  was/ 
says  Hume,  'a  real  Inquisition,  attended  with  similar 
iniquities  and  cruelties.' 3  Even  Lingard,  the  Roman  his- 
torian, who  had  to  recognise,  as  an  honest  writer,  the  in- 
defensible cruelties  perpetrated  by  his  own  Church,  could 
point  the  moral  of  this  abhorrent  institution  in  these  words  : 
'  Whoever  will  compare  the  powers  given  to  this  tribunal 
with  those  of  the  Inquisition,  which  Philip  II.  endeavoured 

1  '  Let  it  not  here  be  forgotten,  that  because  many  did  question  the 
legality  and  Authority  of  the  High  Commission  ;  Archbishop  Whitgift  so 
contrived  the  matter,  that  the  most  sturdy  and  refractory  Nonconformists 
(especially  if  they  had  visible  estates)  were  brought  into  the  Star  Chamber. 
This  took  the  Odium  from  the  Archbishop,  which  in  the  High  Commission 
lightened  chiefly,  if  not  only  upon  him. '     Fuller's  Church  Hist,  of  Britain, 
ed.  1655,  bk.  ix.  p.  187. 

2  1  Eliz.  cap.  1,  sec.  18  (1599). 

3  History,  Reign  of  Eliz.  xii. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  77 

to  establish  in  the  Low  Countries,  will  find  that  the  chief 
difference  between  the  two  Courts  consisted  in  their  names. 
One  was  the  Court  of  Inquisition,  the  other  of  High 
Commission.' l 

3.  The  Case  of  Robert  Cawdrey. — The  large  number 
of  men  who,  as  long  as  it  existed,  resisted  the  opera- 
tions of  this  Court,  and  denounced  its  high-handed  dis- 
regard of  even  the  elementary  liberties  of  the  subject, 
served  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  well  and 
worthily.  A  considerable  proportion  of  them  were  sentenced 
before  any  charge  against  them  could  be  presented,  since 
they  refused  at  the  onset  to  recognise  the  clerical  tyranny, 
and  were  summarily  committed  to  prison  as  a  consequence. 
The  case  of  Eobert  Cawdrey,  one  of  this  number,  is  fre- 
quently referred  to  by  contemporaries.  He  may  be  said  to 
have  won  his  cause  although  the  verdict  by  prejudgment 
was  against  him.  The  Court  of  High  Commission  is  perhaps 
unique  among  all  tribunals,  as  Attorney  Morrice  pointed  out, 
in  that  its  proceedings  contain  no  record  of  a  prisoner  con- 
vented  before  it  being  found  not  guilty.  Cawdrey  was 
rector  of  Luffenham  in  Rutlandshire,  having  been  presented 
to  the  living  by  Lord  Burleigh.  He  was  a  man  of  sound 
learning  and  of  unblemished  character,  greatly  beloved  by 
his  people ;  but  he  was  among  those  who  earnestly  desired 
the  complete  Protestant  reformation  of  the  Church.  The 
charges  against  him  were  of  the  familiar  kind ;  he  omitted 
the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism;  though  strictly  following 
the  order  of  the  Prayer  Book  in  other  details,  he  did  not 
insist  upon  communicants  kneeling  to  receive  the  eucharistic 
elements ;  he  refused  at  the  burial  of  all  and  sundry  persons 
to  repeat  the  words,  '  In  sure  and  certain  hope  of  the  re- 
surrection to  eternal  life ' ;  also,  he  had  never  worn  the 
surplice.  Moreover,  preaching  on  an  occasion  upon  a  text 
which  naturally  suggested  the  topic,  he  spoke  strongly 
against  non-residency  and  other  corruptions,  describing  the 
prescribed  order  of  public  worship,  which  any  curate  know- 
ing his  letters  could  read,  as  favouring  the  continuance  of 

1  Hist,  of  Eng.  (1823),  v.  316  n. 


78  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

these  evils.  He  openly  confessed  this  charge.  '  In  the 
warmth  of  my  zeal,  seeing  the  book  tolerateth  an  ignorant 
and  unfaithful  ministry,  I  said,  "  It  is  a  vile  book,  fie  upon 
it." '  He  was  subjected  to  successive  examinations,  his 
chief  judge  being  Aylmer,  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  urged 
him  especially  to  wear  the  surplice,  using  this  remarkable 
argument.  '  Suppose  you  were  able  to  keep  four  or  six 
servants  in  livery,  and  one  or  two  should  refuse  to  wear 
your  livery,  would  you  take  it  all  in  good  part  ?  Are  we 
not  the  Queen's  servants  ?  And  is  not  the  surplice  the 
livery  which  she  hath  appointed  to  be  worn?  And  do 
you  think  she  will  be  content  if  we  refuse  to  wear  it  ? ' 
Cawdrey  contended  on  this  occasion  that  Aylmer  was 
urging  penalties  against  him,  which  were  never  intended 
to  be  urged  against  any  sort  of  Protestants.  He  also 
challenged  the  consistency  of  the  Bishop,  condemning 
another  for  not  observing  the  Prayer  Book  in  every  detail, 
when  he  himself  and  most  of  the  Bishops,  in  the  matter  of 
confirming  children,  had  not  strictly  observed  it  for  the 
previous  twenty-eight  years.1  This  line  of  argument  did 
Cawdrey  little  good.  Aylmer  at  once  suspended  him  from 
preaching  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  examination,  the  accused  not  being  'resolved'  on  all 
the  points  alleged  against  him,  he  was  sent  to  prison,  bail 
being  refused.  Against  this  harsh  treatment  Cawdrey 
appealed  to  his  patron  Burleigh.  The  Lord  Treasurer  wrote 
to  Aylmer  asking  for  an  explanation  of  his  severity,  and 
requesting  to  see  the  charges  against  Cawdrey.  The  un- 
fortunate man  appeared  again  before  the  Commission  the 
same  day.  He  claimed  that  the  '  exception  against  him  in 

1  A  little  light  upon  the  Episcopal  view  of  the  rite  of  Confirmation  can 
be  derived  from  a  remark  of  Whitgift's.  The  Archbishop  was  not  aware 
that  the  Book  ascribed  salvation  to  baptism.  '  Is  there  any  such  thing  in 
the  book  ? '  he  asks.  Assured  that  there  was,  he  requests  to  see  it.  Hart- 
well  his  secretary  informed  him  that  the  statement  occurred  in  the  last 
words  of  the  rubric  (before  confirmation).  Never  at  a  loss  to  defend  the 
established  order,  Whitgift  said,  '  The  meaning  of  the  book  is  to  exclude  the 
popish  opinion  of  confirmation,  as  if  it  were  necessary  to  baptism.  There- 
fore those  who  have  been  baptized  have  all  outward  things  necessary  to 
salvation,  even  without  confirmation.' — Brook's  Lives,  i.  270. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  79 

the  Statute/  referred  to  by  Dr.  Stanhope,  the  civil  lawyer, 
was  wrongly  appealed  to,  as  it  related  to  Papists  and  re- 
cusarits  only.  So  the  statute  was  produced  and  examined, 
and  Cawdrey's  contention  was  found  to  be  correct.  The 
angry  little  Bishop  closed  the  door  of  justice  with  a  slam. 
'  It  is  no  matter,'  said  he,  '  whether  it  be  so  or  not ;  he 
shall  be  sworn  to  answer  new  Articles.'  But  Burleigh 
demanded,  before  the  next  appointed  convention  of  Cawdrey, 
an  impartial  hearing  of  his  case,  the  result  of  which  was 
that  he  'sent  an  express  order  to  the  Bishop,  to  dismiss 
him,  and  trouble  him  no  more.'  But  Aylmer  had  no  mind 
to  let  his  prey  escape  from  his  claws  so  easily.  He  there- 
fore replied  that  he  was  '  only  one  of  the  Commission,'  and 
that  Cawdrey  '  must  appear  on  the  day  appointed,'  and  that 
they  would  'consider  his  case  according  to  equity  and 
conscience.'  The  phrase  '  equity  and  conscience '  was  no 
doubt  used  ironically,  for  the  persecuted  was  still  denied 
his  freedom.  Cawdrey  urged,  but  in  vain,  that  even  if 
he  were  guilty,  he  had  more  than  suffered  the  statutory 
penalty  of  six  months'  imprisonment,  and  the  loss  of  a 
year's  clerical  income  to  the  Queen.  He  was  then  offered 
an  offensive  form  of  recantation  of  '  those  blasphemous 
speeches '  which  he  had  '  uttered  against  that  holy  book,' 
which  he  absolutely  refused.  Eeminded  of  his  pitiful  plea 
on  behalf  of  his  destitute  wife  and  eight  children,  he 
replied,  '  Both  my  wife  and  niy  children  shall  go  a-begging, 
rather  than  I  will  offend  God  and  my  own  conscience.'  In 
spite  of  his  further  pleas,  the  sentence  of  deprivation  was 
passed  upon  him.  Burleigh  who  had  been  in  ill-health 
and  unable  to  attend  to  his  varied  correspondence,  was 
presently  made  acquainted  with  the  hard  fate  of  his  client ; 
and,  convinced  that  he  was  a  basely  injured  person,  he 
engaged  Attorney  James  Morrice,  of  the  Court  of  Wards,  a 
barrister  of  great  ability,  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  one 
of  the  most  strenuous  defenders  of  the  rights  of  the  people 
against  all  oppression,  to  undertake  Cawdrey's  case.  The 
learned  man  soon  '  made  hay '  of  Aylmer's  law.  The 
sentence  was  null  and  void  for  several  reasons :  Cawdrey 


8o  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

was  not  in  Aylmer's  diocese  or  within  his  jurisdiction ;  the 
sentence  was  the  Bishop's  own,  for  he  claimed  to  impose  it 
in  virtue  of  his  office ;  by  law  it  should  have  been  given 
in  the  names  of  all  the  Commissioners.  Moreover  the 
sentence  of  deprivation  could  only  be  passed  as  the  last  of 
a  series ;  it  must  legally  be  preceded  by  admonition,  ex- 
communication, and  sequestration.  But  all  this,  besides 
other  illegalities  in  the  procedure  pointed  out  by  Cawdrey 
himself,  availed  nothing.  Whitgift,  sitting  on  the  Commis- 
sion at  Lambeth,  completed  the  sentence  of  deprivation. 
On  a  further  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  Dr.  Aubrey, 
the  civil  lawyer,  engaged  in  ecclesiastical  cases,  frankly 
acknowledged  the  sentence  was  not  warranted  by  statute 
law,  but  by  the  older  canon  law,  that  is,  by  transporting 
the  nation  back  a  century  and  a  half  to  the  times  of 
irresponsible  Papal  oppression.1 

4.  The  Oath  '  Ex  officio.' — In  connection  with  the  High 
Commission  and  other  ecclesiastical  Courts,  there  was 
nothing  more  cruelly  oppressive,  more  abhorrent  to  an 
Englishman's  native  sense  of  justice,  than  the  oath  intro- 
duced by  Whitgift  for  the  first  time  into  the  operations  of 
an  ecclesiastical  Commission.  It  is  called  in  the  Queen's 
Articles  of  authorisation  a  '  corporal  oath ' — an  oath  taken 
with  the  hand  upon  the  New  Testament — but  is  commonly 
described  as  the  oath  ex  officio  mero,  an  oath,  that  is,  not 
regulated  and  restricted  by  legal  usage  and  enactment,  but 
administered,  unconditionally,  to  every  one  convented 
before  the  Commission.  Without  a  clear  understanding  of 
this  ex  officio  oath,  the  fire  and  indignation  of  the  Mar- 
prelate  Tracts,  the  resentment  of  many  of  the  chief  officers 
of  the  State,  and  the  intense  hatred  of  the  common  people 
towards  Whitgift  and  the  Bishops,  cannot  be  understood. 
No  doubt  the  ecclesiastics  were  mortified  and  irritated  by 
the  successful  secrecy  with  which  the  propaganda  of  the 
reformers  was  conducted.  Every  possible  liberty  was  pre- 
scribed ;  liberty  and  speech — even  opinions  were  persecuted 
— liberty  of  the  press,  liberty  to  ask  for  redress  from 

1  Brook,  Lives,  I  431-43. 


WHITGIFT'S   PRIMACY  Si 

Parliament,  liberty  of  social  prayer,  liberty  of  religious  con- 
ference, liberty  of  public  worship,  and  now,  finally,  the 
liberty  guaranteed  by  the  constitution  against  lawless  deeds 
of  tyranny.  The  natural  fruit  of  such  a  foolish  and 
unscrupulous  policy  was  the  secret  printing  -  press,  the 
anonymous  tract,  the  surreptitious  assembly.  Finding  that 
warnings,  injunctions,  and  even  legal  processes  were  ineffec- 
tual to  bring  his  opponents  to  reveal  their  secrets,  Whitgift 
introduced  the  oath  ex  officio,  and,  later,  the  torture 
chamber. 

The  modus  operandi  was  simple  in  the  extreme.  A 
man  was  convented  before  the  High  Commission.  According 
to  the  Prelates'  interpretation  of  their  powers,  no  legal  writ 
or  warrant  was  really  required ;  multitudes  of  men  and 
women  were  apprehended  against  whom  no  lawful  writ  had 
been  issued.  John  Greenwood  was  worshipping  with  some 
personal  friends  in  a  house  near  the  Wardrobe,  when  the 
Bishops'  pursuivants  entered,  and  they  were  all  hurried  off 
to  prison  without  one  word  of  explanation  or  of  justification. 
Henry  Barrowe  called  to  see  Greenwood  in  prison.  The 
gaoler  admitted  him;  and  although  there  was  no  writ 
against  him,  Barrowe  never  left  prison  till  he  journeyed  to 
Tyburn.  Great  numbers  of  the  persons  convented  before 
the  Commission  resided  far  away  from  Lambeth  and 
London,  yet  before  any  crime  was  alleged  against  them,  they 
had  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  pursuivants  who  came 
illegally  to  apprehend  them.  Hearken  to  the  complaint  of 
the  distinguished  minister,  Dudley  Fenner.  '  Their  righteous 
soules,'  he  says,  '  must  bee  vexed  with  seeing  and  hearinge 
the  ignorance,  the  prophane  speaches  and  the  evill  example 
of  those  thrust  upo  their  charges,  They  them  selues  of  [by] 
the  wicked  defamed,  reproched,  scoffed  at,  and  called 
seditious  and  rebellious ;  .  .  .  and  although  to  such  as  you 
who  swarme  with  Deanries,  double  benefices,  pensions, 
aduousans,  reversions,  etc.,  Those  molestations  seeme  light ; 
yet  upon  euerie  irreligious  mans  complaint  in  such  things  as 
many  times  are  incredible,  to  be  by  pursuivants  sent  for  to 
pay  two  pence  [  =  say  a  shilling  or  a  little  more  of  our 

G 


82  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

money]  for  euerie  myle  to  find  messengers,  to  defraye  their 
owne  charges,  to  such  as  can  hardlie  with  what  they  haue, 
clothe  and  feede  themselues  and  their  families,  it  is  not  only 
gri[e]vous,  but  as  farre  as  a  worldly  trouble  may  be,  a  verie 
hart-burning.  It  is  grievous  to  a  freeman  borne,  and  to  a 
free  Minister  to  be  brought  into  a  slavish  subjection  to  a 
Commissaire,  as  at  his  pleasure  upon  every  trifling  com- 
plainte  to  be  summoned  [into  the  spiritual  courts] ;  and 
coming  there  at  the  least  with  unnecessarie  expenses, 
masterlike  answeres,  yea,  and  sometimes  with  open  revy- 
linges  to  be  sent  home  again.' l  This  quotation  not  only 
illustrates  the  rapidly  flourishing  calling  of  the  pursuivant, 
but  also  reveals  the  sharpness  of  the  persecution,  when  men 
of  the  highest  repute  and  of  unblemished  character  were  at 
the  mercy  of  the  common  informer.  But  let  us  follow  the 
mode  of  procedure. 

Arriving  at  the  Court,  the  Commissioners  command  the 
convented  person  to  be  sworn,  his  oath  being  given  that  he 
will  answer  any  questions  put  to  him  truly.  Charge 
against  him  or  any  other  there  is  none,  nor  are  there 
witnesses ;  the  questions  to  be  answered  upon  oath  are  not 
restricted  to  any  specified  allegation.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  interrogatories  framed  by  Whitgift  were  of  the  most 
minutely  inquisitorial  character;2  the  whole  confessed 
intention  of  this  outrageous  tyranny  being  identical  in 

1  A  Defence  of  the  godlie  Ministers,  sig.  G  4.    Neal's  quotation,  History, 
i.  390,  is  not  quite  accurately  given. 

2  A  couple  of  the  Articles  taken  as  they  are  cited  by  Neal,  will  enable  the 
reader  to  appreciate  the  nature  of  the  examination  to  which  suspected  persona 
were  subjected. 

1.  Imprimis,  'Objicimus,  ponimus,  et  articulamur,  i.e.  We  object,  put,  and 
article  to  you,  that  you  are  a  deacon  or  minister,  and  priest  admitted  ;  declare  by 
whom  and  what  time  you  were  ordered ;  and  likewise,  that  your  ordering  was 
according  to  the  book  in  that  behalf  by  the  law  of  this  land  provided.  Et 
objicimus  conjunctim  de  omni  et  divisim  de  quodlibet,  i.e.  And  we  object  to  you 
the  whole  of  this  article  taken  together,  and  every  branch  of  it  separately. ' 

7.  Item.  'Obj.  ponimus,  etc.  That  you  deem  and  judge  the  said  whole  book 
[of  Common  Prayer]  to  be  a  godly  and  virtuous  book,  agreeable,  or  at  least  not 
repugnant,  to  the  word  of  God  ;  if  not  we  require  and  command  you  to  declare, 
wherein,  and  in  what  points.  Et  objicimus  ut  supra.' 

There  are  twenty-four  of  these  Articles  altogether.  Burleigh's  indignant 
judgment  on  them  is  given  later  on. — Neal,  History,  i.  337. 


WHITGIFT'S   PRIMACY  83 

character  to  the  use  of  torture — to  compel  a  man  to  accuse 
himself.  In  his  arrogant  autocratic  soul  Whitgift  could  not 
understand  any  sacred  human  rights  of  reserve,  any  final 
inviolable  prerogative  of  personality.  He  blasphemously 
claimed  the  right  of  the  Almighty  to  unlock  any  heart  of 
its  secrets,  to  coerce  it  into  '  bolting  out '  such  information 
as  could  be  used  in  framing  a  formal  charge  against  itself. 
Take  the  following  colloquy  between  Whitgift  and  Barrowe. 
The  Archbishop,  in  angry  mood,  asks  Barrowe  if  he  will  swear. 

Barrowe.    I  would  not  refuse  to  sweare  upon  due  occasion. 

Archbp.  Will  you  then  now  sweare  ? 

Bar.  I  must  first  know  to  what. 

Arch.  So  you  shall  afterward. 

Bar.  I  will  not  swear  unlesse  I  know  before. 

Later  on  the  altercation  is  continued.  Barrowe  is  to  be 
told  what  he  is  to  swear  to. 

Arch.  How  say  you  ?  wil  you  sweare  now  ? 

Aylmer.  My  Lordes  grace  doth  not  show  this  favour  to 
many. 

Arch.  Fetch  a  book. 

Bar.  It  is  needless. 

Arch.  Why,  wil  you  not  sweare  now  1 

Bar.  An  oath  is  a  matter  of  importance  and  requireth  great 
consideration.  But  I  will  answer  you  truly,  etc. 

Arch.  Go  to,  sirra,  answer  directlie.  Wil  you  sweare  ? 
Reach  him  a  booke. 

Bar.  There  is  more  cause  to  sweare  mine  accuser.  I  wil  not 
sweare. 

Arch.  Where  is  his  keeper  1  You  shal  not  prattle  here. 
Away  with  him.  Clap  him  up  close  \  close  \  let  no  man  come 
at  him.  I  wil  make  him  tel  another  tale,  ere  I  have  done  with 
him.1 

5.  Wigginton's  Opposition  and  its  Penalty.  —  Giles 
Wigginton,  sometime  Fellow  of  Trinity,  a  good  scholar  and 
a  quaint  and  interesting  personality,  was  an  old  object  of 
Whitgift's  enmity.  Being  himself  a  dull  man,  devoid  of  a 
sense  of  humour,  Whitgift  seems  to  have  cherished  a  par- 
ticular antipathy  towards  men  marked  by  some  touch  of 

1  Exam,  of  Barrowe.  Greenwood,  and  Penry,  sig.  A  iii.  rect.  et  vers. 


84  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

frolic  imagination.  Wigginton  was  in  the  nature  of  things  a 
popular  member  of  his  college,  and  was  elected  to  his  fellow- 
ship in  spite  of  the  strong  opposition  of  Whitgift,  the 
Master.  When  the  Master  became  Primate  he  did  not 
forget  Wigginton,  who  speedily  found  himself  at  Lambeth 
before  the  High  Commission.  Wigginton  was  at  the  time 
Vicar  of  Sedburgh,  in  the  North  Eiding,  and  came  up  to 
London  in  1584  to  preach  at  St.  Dunstan's  a  sermon  before 
the  Judges.  Notification  of  this,  apparently,  only  reached 
Whitgift  at  a  late  hour  the  previous  evening,  but  he  lost  no 
time  in  putting  the  machinery  of  repression  into  force.  In 
the  dead  of  night  his  pursuivant  roused  up  the  sleeping 
Wigginton,  forbidding  him  to  preach  the  next  day;  and 
although  he  was  without  warrant,  the  pursuivant  required 
of  him  a  bond  that  he  would  appear  in  the  morning  at 
Lambeth.  At  Lambeth  Wigginton  was  tendered  the  oath 
ex  qfficio,  which  he  promptly  refused  to  take ;  in  consequence, 
the  Archbishop,  with  '  much  reviling  and  reproaching 
language,'  committed  him  to  the  Gatehouse  at  Westminster, 
where  he  remained  for  nine  weeks,  save  a  day.1  The 
Archbishop  never  released  his  grip  of  him.  After  much 
distress  and  persecution  inflicted  in  the  meantime  through 
Whitgift's  episcopal  agents,  Wigginton  was  again  at  Lambeth 
in  the  beginning  of  December  1588.2  His  natural  wit,  as 

1  Brook,  Lives,  i.  419. 

2  Wigginton  was  indicted  the  next  year,  at  Whitgift's  request,  before 
Archbishop  Sandys,  and  with  difficulty,   through  the  influence  of  certain 
eminent   personages,    escaped   the   intended    penalty   of    deprivation.      A 
minister  of  immoral  character,  one  Oolecloth,  was  sent  to  take  possession  of 
the   living.       The   next   following    year,    1586,    being   again   in   London, 
Wigginton  was  once  more  before  the  Archbishop,  and  again  refusing  the  oath 
ex  offieio,  he  was  cast  into  the  White  Lion  Prison,  Southwark.     He  says,  '  I 
was  shamefully  reviled  and  abused  by  the  Archbishop  and  those  about  him, 
as  if  I  had  been  the  vilest  rebel  against  my  prince  and  country.     He  then 
committed  me  to  the  keeper  of  the  prison  in  Southwark,  who,  by  the  Arch- 
bishop's strict  charge,  so  loaded  me  with  irons,  confined  me  in  close  prison, 
and  deprived  me  of  necessary  food,  that  in  about  five  weeks  I  was  nearly 
dead.'     In  a  letter  directed  from  prison  to  a  nobleman,  Wigginton  writes, 
'I  desire  justice,  not  mercy,  being  conscious  of  my  own  innocency.     My  old 
adversary,  the  Archbishop,  has  treated  me  more  like  a  Turk  or  a  dog  than  a 
man  or  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.' — Brook,  Lives,  i.  420.    When  appearing 
before  Whitgift,  as  narrated  above,  in  December  1588,  he  had  only  just  been 
released  from  the  Compter — probably  the  Wood  Street  lock-up. 


WHITGIFT'S   PRIMACY  85 

also  his  natural  resentment  against  his  persecutor,  made  him 
to  be  suspected,  if  not  of  being  the  sole  author,  at  least  of 
having  a  hand  in  the  writing  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts ;  and 
there  were  other  sins,  both  of  omission  and  commission,  of 
which  he  was  suspected  to  be  guilty.  Finding  once  more 
Wigginton's  firmness  about  the  oath,  persuaded  also,  no 
doubt,  that  in  any  case  he  would  answer  truthfully,  if  at  all, 
Whitgift  determined  to  proceed  with  his  inquisitorial 
Articles,  in  the  hope  that  Wigginton  would  supply  him  with 
information  on  which  he  could  be  condemned.  The 
examination  began  in  this  fashion : — 

Whitgift.  There  is  a  Book  called  Martin  Marprelate,  a  vile 
seditious  foolish  and  intolerable  booke.  You  are  suspected  to 
be  a  dealer  in  it,  and  therefore  you  are  to  swear  what  you  know 
concerning  the  same.  There  is  a  Bible  or  a  Testament ;  take 
your  oath.  Hold  the  booke  to  him.  *  Were  you,  etc.' 

Wigginton.  You  do  well  to  tell  me  what  matter  I  shall  sweare 
unto ;  but  let  me  know  also  mine  accusers,  who  will  stand  up 
against  me ;  for  my  meaning  is  not  to  accuse  myself. 

Whitg.  Well,  there  is  no  dealing  with  him,  as  you  know 
(said  he  to  his  associates.  Then  turning  to  Gples]  W[igginton] 
he  said),  We  will  take  your  answer  on  your  word  only.  What 
say  you  to  these  articles  following  1 

(So  he  read  certain  interrogatories  which  were  in  effect  as 
after  followeth,  very  large  and  very  subtle,  yet  not  without  vain 
repetitions.) 

Whitg.  Whether  have  you  any  of  the  same  bookes  1  Or, 
have  you  read  or  heard  [read]  any  of  them,  or  any  part  of  them 
at  any  time  ? 

Wigg.  I  will  not  answer  to  accuse  my  selfe,  let  mine  accusers 
stand  forth,  if  it  please  you  to  proceed  against  me.  You  have 
known  my  resolved  mind  for  this  point  for  many  years  passed. 

Whitg.  Whether  have  you  had,  used,  or  known  any  of  them, 
and  how  many  ;  and  how  came  you  by  them  ;  and  how  did  you 
bestow  them ;  in  whose  hands  are  they,  and  by  whose  means ; 
when  and  where  did  you  come  by  them,  or  see  them,  or  heare 
them  read  unto  you,  etc.  1 

Wigg.  I  would  rather  accuse  myself  than  others ;  but  I  will 
accuse  neither  of  both.  Let  mine  accusers  and  due  witnesses 
according  to  the  laws  of  God  and  of  this  Realme,  proceed  against 
me,  if  you  will ;  for  I  looke  for  no  comfort  by  accusing  myself 
or  my  neighbours. 


86  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

WTiitg.  Whether  have  you  bought,  sold,  given,  dispersed, 
handled  or  any  way  dealt  with  any  of  them,  in  what  sort,  etc  1 

Wigg.  I  account  it  as  unnaturall  a  thing  for  me  to  answer 
against  myself  as  to  thrust  a  knife  into  my  thigh.  The  matter 
I  understand  is  dangerous  and  doubtfull,  and  therefore  I  will 
neither  accuse  my  selfe  nor  others  about  it.  The  heathen  Judge 
said  to  the  Apostle  in  the  Acts,  '  I  will  hear  thee  when  thine 
accusers  come.'1 

Later  on  in  this  trial  a  further  conversation  took  place 
concerning  the  justice  and  lawfulness  of  the  examination 
without  indictment  or  witnesses,  and  by  the  ex  officio  oath. 
The  Archbishop,  Bishop  Cooper,  and  others  affirmed  '  that 
it  was  lawfull  for  him  [Wigginton]  to  answer  as  they 
demanded ;  that  there  was  no  other  way  of  tryall ;  that  no 
estate  could  stand  without  such  answering  and  swearing.' 
Wigginton  denied  that  it  was  English  law,  or  that  their 
procedure  was  the  usage  of  good  courts.  Whitgift,  who 
stuck  at  nothing,  roundly  affirmed  that  it  was  English  law. 

6.  Protests  of  Burleigh  and  Attorney  Morrice. — The 
iniquities  of  the  High  Commission  were  so  flagrant  that 
they  excited  general  disapprobation.  Burleigh  was  roused 
out  of  his  prudent  reticence  to  write  to  the  Primate  about 
his  method  of  interrogation,  and  to  inform  him  of  the  wide- 
spread disaffection  it  was  creating.  Whitgift's  Articles  he 
1  found  in  a  Romish  style,  of  great  length  and  curiosity ' ; 
he  thought  '  the  Inquisition  of  Spain  used  not  so  many 
questions  to  comprehend  and  to  trap  their  priests.' 
According  to  his  judgment,  the  Archbishop's  proceeding 
was  'too  much  savouring  of  the  Romish  Inquisition,  and 
is  a  device  rather  to  seek  for  offenders  than  to  reform  any.' 
The  Archbishop  wrote  voluminous  replies,  in  which  he  re- 
linquished not  a  jot  of  his  contention,  and  quoted,  forsooth, 
the  practice  of  the  Star  Chamber,  the  Court  of  Marches  (in 
connection  with  which  he  had  introduced  the  rack),  and 
other  tribunals.  Burleigh  contented  himself  with  a  brief 
severe  answer.  He  said  he  was  not  satisfied  '  in  the  point 
of  seeking  by  examination  to  have  ministers  accuse  them- 
selves, and  then  punish  them  for  their  own  confessions.' 

1  Second  Parte  of  a  ^Register  (MS.),  844. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  87 

In  regard  to  the  poor  minister  whose  case  had  moved  him 
to  write,  he  said  '  his  Grace  might  therefore  deal  with  his 
friend  Master  Brayne  as  he  thought  fit;  but  when  by 
examining  him  it  was  meant  only  to  sift  him  with  twenty- 
four  Articles,  he  had  cause  to  pity  the  poor  man.' 1 

Wise  and  strong  men,  lovers  of  their  country,  saw 
clearly  that  the  constitution  was  being  undermined.  The 
long  struggle  for  human  liberty  had  not  been  without  its 
guerdon.  But  now,  after  many  victories,  after  having  freed 
itself  from  the  servitude  of  Kome,  the  chiefest  of  all  the 
victories  of  freedom,  another  succession  of  priests,  as  much 
a  caste  as  the  old  and  not  a  whit  less  overbearing,  was 
turning  the  glory  of  the  English  race  into  shame.  Attorney 
Morrice  wrote  the  Prelates  privately  of  '  their  errour  and 
abuse/  not  touching,  as  he  says,  any  living  person  and 
treating  the  matter  generally,  and  only  communicating  his 
fears  and  thoughts  besides  to  an  '  honourable  Counsellor  of 
estate '  and  a  (lay)  ecclesiastical  commissioner.  Of  course 
no  heed  was  taken  of  his  private  admonition.  He  therefore 
pointed  out  the  abuse  in  a  speech  which  he  delivered  from 
his  place  in  Parliament.  This  he  afterwards  embodied  in  a 
paper  still  in  existence.2  He  naturally  reflects  upon  the 
grotesque  circumstance  that  '  the  men  that  offer  these 
indignities  (who  would  thinke  it !)  are  the  persons  comonlie 
called  spiritual!.'  He  then  divides  his  remarks  under 
three  heads.  The  wrongs  are  chiefly  perpetrated  (a)  '  by  an 
ungodlye  and  intolerable  inquisition ' ;  (b)  '  by  a  lawlesse 
subscription ' ;  and  (c)  '  by  a  binding  absolution/  He  first 
describes  the  inquisition ;  the  '  seacret,  and  for  the  most 
part,  malitious  enformers ' ;  citation  upon  '  bare  suspition 
conceyved  of  your  owne  Phantasies  ' ;  trial  without  '  lawfull 
presentment/  with  the  obnoxious  oath  and  interrogatories. 
If  the  accused — though  that  name  is  not  an  accurate 
description — through  weakness  submit  to  the  oath,  then  he 
is  sure  to  be  tricked  into  supplying  some  information  for 

1  Neal,  i.  339,  340.      Burleigh  is  the  only  man  who  bearded  Whitgift 
and  did  not  suffer  for  it. 

2  A  Remembrance  of  certaine  matters  concerninge  the  Clergye  and  theire 
Jurisdiction,  Baker  MSS.  (Cam.  Univ.  Lib.),  Mm.  i.  51. 


88  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

his  own  condemnation.  If  he  refuse, '  then,  as  for  a  heynous 
contempt  against  God  and  hir  Majtie  he  is  comytted  to  hard 
and  miserable  Imprisonment,  there  to  remayne  duringe  plea- 
sure, without  Bayle  or  Mayneprise.'  The  scandalous  invasion 
of  natural  human  rights  thus  committed  is  shown.  Nothing 
but  contempt  is  being  cast  upon  the  great  instruments  and 
institutions  of  law.  The  Great  Charter  says  that  no  Free- 
man shall  be  punished  or  fined  except  by  the  '  lawe  of  the 
Lande ' ;  and  forbids  the  accused  to  be  put  on  oath.  There 
is  the  great  statute  1 6  Edward  III.  which  provides  '  that 
no  man  be  putt  to  answere,  without  presentment  before 
Justices,  matter  of  Record,  due  processour,  with  originall, 
after  the  antient  Lawe  of  the  Land.'  The  ecclesiastical 
judges  had  stigmatised  these  as  '  antiquate  and  worne  out 
of  use  ' ;  he  uses,  he  remarks,  '  their  terrnes.' 

Morrice  then  points  out  a  characteristic  piece  of  prelatical 
sharp-practice.  In  their  demand  for  a  '  lawlesse  subscrip- 
tion/ the  Bishops  begin  with  a  fair  show ;  they  present  the 
Article  touching  the  Royal  Supremacy,  which  none  refuses. 
But  presently  they  proceed  to  highly  '  disputable  matters ' 
of  their  own  devising ;  and  because  subscription  is  denied 
to  these,  the  examinee  is  made  guilty  of  all,  as  though  they 
had  opposed  a  genuine  legal  enactment  and  were  disloyal. 
To  Morrice,  as  a  constitutional  lawyer,  this  whole  pro- 
ceeding was  a  violation  of  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown. 
The  '  binding  absolution/  his  third  head,  is  the  injustice  of 
asking  men  to  be  absolved  by  binding  themselves,  beyond 
all  reason  or  right,  to  obey  ecclesiastical  laws  and  injunc- 
tions '  which  they  know  not,  and  if  they  were  knowne,  yet 
impossible  to  be  performed.'  He  notes  in  regard  to  the 
oath  that,  in  answer  to  a  request  that  they  should  not  urge 
it  upon  ministers  of  known  reputation  the  Bishops'  response 
was  '  bytter,  sharpe,  and  offensive  to  hir  Maiesties  Courts  of 
Justice ' — they  could  not,  they  declared,  exercise  their  juris- 
diction without  '  dealinge  ex  officio.'  They  had  abandoned 
all  justification  for  their  proceedings  except  the  Act  1  Eliz., 
with  the  Commission  it  authorised.  Morrice,  however, 
points  out  that  that  Act  was  only  a  restoring  Act,  and 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  89 

could  only  restore  such  jurisdictions  and  privileges  as  were 
previously  lawfully  exercised.  Comparing  these  lawless 
clerical  pirates  with  the  Queen,  he  finely  says,  '  Behold  with 
us  the  sovereigne  Aucthoritie  of  one,  an  absolute  Prince, 
Greate  in  Maiestie,  rulinge  and  reigninge ;  yet  guyded  and 
directed  by  Principles  and  Precepts  of  Season,  which  wee 
terme  the  Lawe.' l 

1  Upon  completion  of  his  speech  Morrice  presented  two  Bills  to  the 
House,  one  against  '  unlawfull  oathes,  injunctions,  and  subscriptions,'  and 
the  other  against  '  unlawfull  imprisonment  and  restraynt  of  Libertie ' ;  in 
the  preambles  of  which,  respectively,  he  embodied,  in  technical  form,  the 
legal  grounds  of  his  procedure.  The  discussion  which  followed  was  highly 
interesting.  Dalton,  a  lawyer,  made  it  an  opportunity  of  inveighing  against 
the  Puritans  and  the  Church  at  Middleburgh  (Zeelarid)  ;  Wooley,  a  privy 
councillor,  pretended  that  the  subject  was  forbidden  ;  Finch  of  Gray's  Inn 
denounced  the  Inquisition  ;  Sir  Francis  Knollys  denied  that  Morrice  opposed 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  ;  he  opposed  its  abuse  ;  certainly  if  ecclesiastical 
laws  contravened  the  Laws  of  the  Realm,  then  ecclesiastical  laws  must 
'  stoope  and  submy tt  them  selfes. '  Sir  Robert  Cecil  and  the  Speaker  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  Bills  postponed  till  the  next  day.  That,  says  Morrice, 
was  the  last  he  heard  of  them.  Whitgift  was  no  doubt  to  the  fore,  poisoning 
the  mind  of  the  Queen  (see  an  example  of  his  practice,  Strype,  WMtg.  i.  391), 
and  so  next  day  Morrice  had  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council.  Here 
began  his  troubles, — they  ended  only  with  his  death.  For  his  interference 
in  ecclesiastical  affairs  he  was  to  be  imprisoned — Bmieigh  securing  that  it 
should  be  in  a  counsellor's  house.  The  Lord  Keeper  had  waxed  warm  on 
the  lawfulness  of  the  oath  ;  but  Burleigh  said  Morrice's  Bills  were  wrong 
'  onlie  in  forme ' — he  should  have  addressed  himself  directly  to  her  Majesty. 
Morrice,  in  reply,  claimed  that  he  had  only  touched  upon  '  matters  of  estate. ' 
From  his  durance  in  Sir  John  Fortescue's  house,  where  he  was  hospitably 
treated  in  the  ill-health  from  which  he  suffered,  he  addressed  several  letters 
to  Burleigh  and  others.  In  one  of  them  he  warns  the  authorities  to  con- 
sider well  the  situation,  lest,  '  as  heretofore  we  praied,  From  the  tyranny  of 
the  B[ishop]  of  Rome,  good  Lord  deliver  us,  we  bee  compelled  to  pray, 
From  the  Tyranny  of  the  Clergy  of  England,  good  Lord  deliver  us.'  Much 
public  interest  was  shown  in  his  case  ;  his  patriotic  spirit  and  his  physical 
weakness  combined  to  awaken  the  sympathies  of  the  people.  After  various 
delays  and  interviews,  he  got  his  release,  and  found  his  way  home  to  West- 
minster once  more.  But  it  could  not  be  supposed  that  so  bold  and  powerful 
a  critic  of  the  Prelates,  so  courageous  a  counsel  on  behalf  of  their  victims, 
could  be  left  at  large  to  continue  his  mischief.  He  was  first  of  all  deprived 
of  his  place  in  the  Duchy  Court,  and  then  his  teeth  were  drawn  by  depriving 
him  from  practising  as  a  common  lawyer.  But  even  then  his  great  learning 
and  wise  counsel  were  at  the  command  of  persecuted  reformers,  such  as  Giles 
Wigginton  and  others.  His  vindictive  priestly  enemy  never  rested  till  he 
had  him  shut  up  in  Tutbury  Castle — a  few  miles  from  Burton-on-Trent — 
sometime  the  prison  of  Mary  Stewart ;  a  '  fortress  rather  than  a  dwelling- 
house,  desolate  and  uncomfortable,'  Bp.  Creighton  describes  it  (Eliz.  p.  213). 
There  James  Morrice  remained  till  his  death — a  martyr  to  the  cause  of 
public  justice  and  liberty. — Baker  MSS.  (Camb.  Univ.  Lib.),  Mm.  i.  51. 


90  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

7.  Later  Phases  of  the  Court  under  Whitgift,  Bancroft, 
and  Laud. — There  is  a  significant  record  of  Whitgift  sitting 
alone  in  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  for  the  establish- 
ment of  which  he  was  chiefly  responsible.  Men  shrank 
from  the  obloquy  which  attached  to  its  proceedings, 
tyrannical  in  method  and  pitiless  in  spirit  as  they  were. 
But  the  now  aged  persecutor,  seventy  years  of  age  and 
more,  unrepenting  of  all  his  cruelties,  his  lawless  proceed- 
ings, his  betrayal  of  the  liberties  of  the  people,  sits  in  his 
abhorred  tribunal,  querulously  complaining  that  privy  coun- 
cillors and  bishops  were  avoiding  its  precincts,  and  that 
the  only  officials  on  duty  are  deans  and  doctors,  and 
such  small  fry,  "whose  attendance  he  might  with  some 
authority  command  and  expect/1  Whitgift's  successor 
Bancroft,  under  King  James,  found  the  High  Commission 
an  institution  very  much  to  his  mind  in  his  strenuous 
efforts  to  free  the  Established  Church  from  the  dominance 
of  the  law,  and  to  create  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  having 
an  entirely  independent  jurisdiction.  Caring  less  than 
nothing  for  the  constitutional  and  inherited  liberties  of 
the  people,  Bancroft,  when  successfully  opposed  by  Chief 
Justice  Coke,  desperately  appealed  to  the  autocratic  instincts 
of  King  James  so  as  to  gain  his  end.  The  King  was  to  be 
a  sort  of  oriental  amir,  sitting  in  the  gate,  and  himself 
administering,  not  indeed  law,  but  Jacobean  justice.  The 

1  The  King  somewhat  objected  to  the  number  of  the  Commissioners, 
thinking  them  too  many.  Whitgift  replied  that  the  larger  number  was 
necessary  '  for  otherwise  he  must  be  forc'd,  as  oft-times  now  it  fell  out,  to 
sit  alone,  etc.'  He  also  complained  that  some  suspected  persons  were  too 
eminent  to  be  reached  in  any  other  way,  and  averred  that  Commissions  were 
(at  that  particular  time  we  assume,  certainly  not  in  the  earlier  days  of  his 
rule)  granted  against  his  will,  and  without  his  knowledge.  One  of  the  lay 
lords  of  the  Conference  repeated  the  original  objections  to  the  Commission 
and  the  oath,  offered  by  Burleigh  and  Morrice,  alleging  the  procedure  to  be 
illegal  and  '  like  unto  the  Spanish  Inquisition. '  The  Archbishop  then  made 
the  most  astounding  statement  of  all.  '  In  the  manner  of  proceeding  and 
examining, '  he  said,  '  his  Lordship  was  deceived :  For  if  any  Article  did 
touch  the  Party  any  way,  either  for  Life,  Liberty,  or  Scandal,  he  might 
refuse  to  Answer,  neither  was  he  urg'd  thereunto.'  Although  this  is  recorded 
by  a  dignitary  entirely  favourable  to  Whitgift,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
he  ever  made  such  a  statement.  See  The  Sum  and  Substance,  of  the  Conference, 
by  William  Barlow,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Chester.  Reprinted  in  The,  Phoenix,  i. 
172,  173. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  91 

judges  were  only  his  delegates,  Bancroft  urged ;  and  agents 
could  not  perform  acts  which  their  principal  was  incom- 
petent to  perform ;  and  James  thought  so  too.  The  Chief 
Justice  made  short  work  of  this  egregious  claim ;  upon 
which  the  royal  Solomon  told  him  that  his  sentiments  were 
treasonable,  and  that  he  spoke  like  a  fool.  The  judges, 
however,  agreed  with  the  eminent  Chief  Justice,  and  no 
doubt,  if  legal  authority  could  have  operated,  the  Court  of 
High  Commission  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  continue 
its  evil  existence.  It  was  reserved  to  another  Archbishop 
of  the  Established  Church  to  fill  up  the  cup  of  its  iniquities. 
Under  William  Laud  the  policy  of  Whitgift  and  Bancroft 
was  carried  to  its  extremity,  until  the  names  of  the  High 
Commission  and  of  its  companion  and  co-operating  court, 
the  Star  Chamber,  became  a  terror  in  the  land.  For 
writing  Sion's  Plea  against  Prelacy  Alexander  Leighton, 
father  of  the  Archbishop  of  that  name,  was  apprehended 
on  a  warrant  from  the  High  Commission;  he  was  seized 
coming  out  of  church,  dragged  to  Laud's  house,  thence, 
without  form  of  trial,  to  Newgate.  There  he  lay  in  irons 
in  a  foul  dog-hole,  snow  coming  through  the  open  roof, 
without  bedding,  without  fire,  the  place  infested  with 
vermin,  for  fifteen  weeks.  His  wife  was  used  with  in- 
credible barbarity,  and  a  pistol  was  presented  to  the  breast 
of  a  child  of  five,  in  order  to  compel  him  to  show  where  his 
father's  books  were  hidden.  The  little  fellow  never  re- 
covered from  his  terror.  Through  his  evil  usage  Leighton's 
hair  and  skin  came  off.  In  this  condition  he  was  tried 
before  the  Star  Chamber,  was  condemned  to  be  degraded 
from  his  ministry ;  to  have  his  ears  cut ;  his  nose  slit ;  to 
be  branded  in  the  face ;  to  stand  in  the  pillory ;  to  be 
whipped  at  a  post ;  to  pay  ten  thousand  pounds  [it  might 
as  well  have  been  ten  millions] ;  and  to  suffer  perpetual 
imprisonment.  The  verdict  being  pronounced,  the  grateful 
Archbishop  took  off  his  hat,  and  holding  up  his  hands, 
'  gave  thanks  to  God,  who  had  given  him  the  victory  over 
his  enemies.'  The  sentence  was  actually  carried  out,  and 
that  by  halves.  The  first  half  was  executed  at  Westminster, 


92  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

where  Leighton  stood  two  hours  in  the  pillory,  in  the  frost 
and  snow ;  and  was  then  whipped  till  the  flesh  on  his  back 
was  in  ribbons.  In  a  week  the  sentence  was  completed  in 
Cheapside — the  cutting,  slitting,  branding  as  before,  and 
the  gory  back  again  lacerated  with  the  triple  cord.1  The 
protection  of  law  was  ceasing  out  of  the  land ;  neither 
cleric  nor  layman  was  safe  for  a  day,  except  on  terms  of 
narrow  subserviency.  Because  Prynne,  after  his  second 
mutilation,  when  on  his  way  to  his  prison  in  Carnarvon 
Castle,  attended  public  worship  at  Coventry,  it  being  Sun- 
day when  he  arrived  there,  the  mayor  and  six  others  were 
summoned  to  appear  before  Laud.  They  had  not  even 
spoken  to  Prynne ;  nevertheless  the  irascible  Prelate  had 
them  in  attendance  for  a  fortnight  and  put  them  to  between 
two  and  three  hundred  pounds  expense,  before  they  were 
allowed  to  return  home.  Never  were  the  civil  and  religious 
liberties  of  the  country  more  nearly  imperilled  than  during 
the  existence  of  Whitgift's  High  Commission — the  previous 
Elizabethan  Commissions,  bad  though  they  were,  were 
tribunals  of  an  entirely  different  character — and  it  was 
with  a  sigh  of  relief  that  the  country  heard  in  1641  that 
both  the  High  Commission  and  the  Star  Chamber  were 
abolished. 


Section  III. — Emptying  the  Pulpits  and  filling 
the  Gaols 

1.  Literary  Protests. — It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that 
clerical  intolerance  was  to  be  endured  without  protest. 
Recourse  was  had  to  the  secret  press, — the  only  platform 
left  from  which  a  reformer  and  a  patriot  could  appeal,— 
which  for  the  next  ten  years  and  more  was  kept  busy. 
Soon  after  Whitgift  was  transferred  to  Canterbury  and  had 
issued  his  drastic  Articles,  a  small  pamphlet  was  put  into 
circulation  entitled  The  Unlawful  Practises  of  Prelates,  in 
which  he  is  reproached  for  using  good  ministers  more 
severely  than  any  Prelate  had  used  them  since  the  Reforma- 

1  Brook,  Lives,  ii.  476-483. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  93 

tion.1  But  a  more  serious  indictment  of  his  policy  was 
that  contained  in  An  Abstracte  of  Certaine  Acts  of  Parlement ; 
in  which  the  anonymous  author  shows,  against  the  prevail- 
ing practice  of  the  Bishops,  that  '  A  learned  ministerie  is 
commanded  by  the  law ' ;  and  also,  that  '  Dispensation  for 
many  benefices  is  unlawfull.'  There  can  be  little  doubt 
about  the  soundness  of  the  contention  ;  the  defence  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  always  rested  on  the  alleged 
scarcity  of  suitable  ministers,  which  necessitated,  in  the  one 
case,  the  appointment  of  uneducated  ministers,  and  in  the 
other,  the  multiplication  of  benefices  in  the  hands  of  one 
man ;  on  both  which  points  something  more  will  be  said 
presently.  The  nature  of  the  official  reply,  which  also 
appeared  anonymously,  but  was  written  by  Dr.  Eichard 
Cosin,  the  ecclesiastical  lawyer,  can  be  seen  in  a  single 
significant  extract.  Even  if  the  allegations  in  the  Abstracte 
were  true,  it  was  not  seemly  that  the  '  faults  and  oversights  ' 
of  the  Bishops  should  be  laid  open  '  as  Cham  did  his  father's 
nakedness.'  Then  he  proceeds,  'Neither  doth  it  become 
every  triobolar 2  mate  thus  covertly  to  carp  either  at  her 
Majesty's  singular  wisdom,  who  with  the  advice  of  her 
renowned,  wise  council  hath  made  choice  of  those  fathers 
[Bishops]  as  having  more  integrity  and  sufficiency,  than  he 
is  willing  by  any  means  to  agnize  [recognise].' 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  follow  in  detail  the  develop- 
ment of  this  controversy.  Cosin  was  answered,  as  elsewhere 
noted,  by  Dudley  Tenner  in  the  Counterpoyson ;  owing  to  this 
circumstance  Fenner  has  been  assigned  the  authorship  of 
the  Abstracte,  though  this  is  probably  an  error.  The 
Counterpoyson  was  in  turn  assailed  in  a  Latin  sermon 
delivered  at  Paul's  Cross  by  Dr.  Copcot  (or  Capcot),  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  printed.  This  was  again 

1  See  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  42.     The  pamphlet  is  a  very  slight  production, 
and  its  influence  on  the  Marprelate  controversy  not  appreciable  ;  but  in  the 
unsatisfactory  and  uninformed  account  of  this  controversy  given  by  Mr.  Ray- 
mond Beazley  in  Traill's  Social  England  (vol.  iii.  p.  435)  it  is  cited  as  being 
of  some  special   importance,  the  writer  perhaps  led  astray  by  the  fame  of 
Tyndale's  work,  The  Practice  of  Prelates. 

2  Equal  in  value  to  three  oboli  only ;  hence,  mean,  contemptible. 


94  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

answered  by  Fenner  in  A  Defence  of  the  Reasons  of  the 
Counterpoyson,  though  after  considerable  delay ;  to  be 
accounted  for,  no  doubt,  by  the  increasing  difficulty  of 
maintaining  the  secret  press,  owing  to  the  vigilance  of  the 
censorship.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  while  the 
discussion  was  originally  upon  the  legality  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Bishops,  the  defence  never  seriously  faced 
that  issue ;  seeing  only  in  the  Abstracte  a  device  to  introduce 
the  eldership  in  place  of  the  episcopate.  The  last  phase  of 
the  discussion  turned  on  the  Scriptural  authority  of  the 
eldership.  The  whole  contention  also  revealed  the  per- 
manent division  existing  in  this  country  between  the  views 
of  the  clergy  of  the  Establishment  and  those  of  the  general 
body  of  English  laymen ;  a  division  as  marked  in  our  own 
day  as  in  the  period  of  which  we  write.1 

2.  Protests  of  the  Reforming  Clergy. — The  results  of 
Whitgift's  peremptory  insistence  upon  subscription  to  his 
Three  Articles  were  disastrous.  No  intelligent  person  could 
with  a  clear  conscience  sign  the  second  Article  on  the  con- 
tents of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer ;  and  as  the  intensity 
of  an  Englishman's  patriotism  depended  upon  the  distance 
separating  him  from  the  foreign  cult  of  Rome,  so  none  felt 
so  keenly  as  the  Nonconformists  that  Whitgift,  under  cover 
of  Protestantism,  was  really  perpetuating  the  older  Italian 
tyranny  and  the  more  recent  Spanish  lawlessness :  he,  a 
priest,  was  demanding  more  than  the  law  allowed  him ; 
more,  it  would  seem,  than  even  any  ecclesiastical  canon 
warranted  him  in  demanding.  He  was  overriding  the  lex 
terrae,  the  chief  possession  of  the  race,  the  fruits  of  the 
struggles  against  princely  and  clerical  oppression,  embodied 
as  a  permanent  possession  in  the  law  and  constitution  of 
the  country.  And  because  staunch  patriotic  men  resisted 

1  'It  may  be  gathered  from  this  Abstracte  what  a  hard  Game  that 
Reverend  Prelate  [Whitgift]  had  to  play,  when  such  great  Masters  in  the 
Art  held  the  Cards  against  him  :  For  at  that  time  the  Earls  of  Huntingdon 
and  Leicester,  Walsingham  Secretary  of  Estate,  and  Knolls  Comptroller  of 
the  Houshold  (a  professed  Gencviari)  were  his  open  Adversaries  ;  Burleigh,  a 
Neutral  at  best ;  and  none  but  Hatton  (then  Vicechamberlain  and  afterwards 
Lord  Chancellor)  firmly  for  him. ' — Hist,  of  the  Presbyterians,  by  Peter  Heylin, 
D.D.,  Chaplain  to  Charles  I.  and  Charles  II.  (Oxford,  1670),  p.  276. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  95 

these  lawless  Episcopal  proceedings  they  were  branded  as 
disloyal.  When  John  Wilson,  a  licensed  preacher,  and  a 
Yorkshireman,  appeared  before  Archbishop  Sandys  and  was 
so  accused,  he  replied,  '  I  am  as  true  a  subject,  and  as  good 
a  friend  to  her  Majesty  and  the  State,  according  to  my 
ability,  as  you  are/  Appearing  before  Whitgift,  Aylmer, 
and  others  of  the  High  Commission,  in  December  1587, 
Wilson  challenged  the  legality  of  their  proceedings. 
Answering  Stanhope,  he  said — 

If  you  can  shew  me  any  statute,  now  in  force  in  England, 
which  requireth  me  to  subscribe  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
to  the  book  of  making  bishops  and  ministers,  and  to  the  whole 
book  of  articles  ;  I  will  promise  you  and  these  people,  that  I  will 
subscribe. 

Being  told  that  the  Bishops  by  a  commission  from  her 
Majesty  had  authority  '  to  deal  in  these  matters  according 
to  their  discretion,'  Wilson  replied — 

Neither  their  commission  nor  their  discretion,  may  oppose  the 
discreet  [i.e.  distinct,  definite]  laws  made  by  her  Majesty  and 
Parliament.  If  they  do,  I  dare  boldly  say,  that  they  abuse  her 
Majesty,  her  subjects,  and  their  own  commission.1 

All  through  their  contest  with  the  Bishops,  those  who  were 
*  seekers  after  Eeformation '  professed  to  be,  and  undoubtedly 
were,  fervent  and  unquestioning  in  their  loyalty  to  Elizabeth. 
'  God  save  the  Queen,'  said  Stubbe  when  his  right  hand  was 
barbarously  chopped  off.  But  the  Bishops  early  and  per- 
sistently tried  to  confuse  the  issue  by  making  resistance  to 
their  Articles  treason  against  the  Crown.  This  subterfuge 
aroused  the  special  indignation  of  the  nonconforming 
ministers ;  and  it  explains  the  fire  which  shows  itself,  for 
example,  in  the  dexterous,  but  otherwise  cool  and  con- 
sidered, replies  of  Axton,  when  before  the  Bishop  of  Lich- 
field  in  1570;  as  seen  in  the  following  extract : — 

Bishop.  In  refusing  the  surplice,  you   are   disloyal   to   the 
Queen. 

1  Brook,  Lives,  i.  346,  352. 


96  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Axton.  In  charging  me  with  disloyalty,  you  do  me  great 
injury;  and  especially  when  you  call  me  and  my  brethren 
traitors,  and  say,  that  we  are  more  troublesome  subjects  than 
Papists. 

Bp.  I  say  the  same  still.  The  Papists  are  afraid  to  stir; 
but  you  are  presumptuous,  and  disquiet  the  state  more  than 
Papists. 

Ax.  If  I,  or  any  others  that  fear  God,  speak  the  truth,  doth 
this  disquiet  the  State  ?  The  Papists  for  twelve  years  have 
been  plotting  treason  against  the  Queen  and  the  Gospel,  yet 
this  does  not  grieve  you.  But  I  protest  in  the  presence  of  God 
and  you  all,  that  I  am  a  true  and  faithful  subject  to  her  Majesty. 
I  pray  daily,  both  in  public  and  private,  for  her  safety,  for  her 
long  and  prosperous  reign,  and  for  the  overthrow  of  her  enemies, 
especially  the  Papists.  I  do  profess  myself  an  enemy  to  her 
enemies,  and  a  friend  to  her  friends.  If,  therefore,  you  have 
any  conscience,  cease  to  charge  me  with  disloyalty  to  my 
Prince.1 

But  although  their  action  was  branded  as  disloyal  and 
their  books  invariably  classed  as  seditious,  the  resistance  of 
the  evangelical  ministers  to  Whitgift's  Three  Articles  and 
his  Interrogatories  never  wavered ;  nor  did  the  false  issue 
deceive  any,  except  perhaps  the  Queen,  outside  the  pre- 
latical  circle. 

3.  Petitions  from  the  Country. — The  extent  to  which 
these  earnest,  laborious,  and  for  the  most  part  learned,  men 
were  driven  from  their  churches  could  not  but  alarm  the 
more  serious  and  religiously  minded  among  the  laymen. 
In  the  county  of  Norfolk  sixty-four  ministers  were  sus- 
pended ;  in  Suffolk,  sixty ;  in  Sussex,  thirty ;  in  Essex, 
thirty -eight ;  in  Kent,  twenty ;  in  Lincolnshire,  twenty- 
one.  And  the  same  in  other  counties.  Petitions  in  great 
numbers  soon  began  to  be  presented  to  the  Council  and  the 
chief  men  about  Court  by  tbe  distressed  parishes ;  they 
speak  of  the  laborious  ministries  of  their  deprived  pastors, 
their  eminent  character  and  piety,  and  the  moral  reforma- 
tion they  have  effected  in  their  parishes.2  Burleigh,  we 

1  Brook,  Lives,  i.  163. 

2  For   example,   the    '  Supplication '   of  Duuraow  in   Essex — '  Dunmow 
Hundred  and  other  some  Townes  near  adjoyning' — dated  Nov.  1st,  1586, 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  97 

have  seen,  ceased  in  disgust  to  request  personally  that 
Whitgift  should  humanise  his  inquisition.  But  he  joined 
the  Lords  of  the  Council  who  wrote  to  Aylmer  on  behalf 
of  these  men  and  their  destitute  flocks  ;  informing  him 
of  the  complaints  reaching  them  from  all  parts.  The 
Councillors  note  that  everywhere  the  men  deprived  are 
'  preachers ' ;  they  had  hoped  that  these  hasty  proceedings 
would  have  been  stayed  by  the  Bishops,  especially  against 
men  who  so  earnestly  instructed  their  people  against 
Popery.  They  point  especially  to  the  great  number  of 
vacant  churches  in  Essex,  a  part  of  the  diocese  of  London ; 
and  they  complain  of  the  character  of  the  men  who,  in 
some  cases,  have  been  sent  to  supply  the  vacancies ;  men 
'  notoriously  unfit — most  for  lack  of  learning ;  many  charge- 
able with  great  and  enormous  faults,  as  drunkenness,  filthi- 
ness  of  life,  gaming  at  cards,  haunting  of  alehouses,  etc., 
against  whom  they  [the  Council]  heard  not  of  any  proceed- 
ings, but  that  they  were  quietly  suffered,  etc.'  They  also 
complain  of  pluralists  and  non-residents ;  and  against 
these,  also,  they  have  '  heard  of  no  inquisition ' ;  the 
'  great  diligence '  and  '  extreme  usage/  on  the  contrary,  are 
against  men  'that  were  known  diligent  preachers.'  This 
letter  was  signed  by  the  Lord  Treasurer,  the  Earls  of 
Shrewsbury,  Warwick  and  Leicester,  Lord  Charles  Howard, 
Sir  James  Croft,  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  (a  remarkable 
signatory,  seeing  he  was  Whitgift's  placeman,  owing  his 

and  presented  through  Lord  Rich,  is  signed  by  over  two  hundred  of  the 
inhabitants.  The  signatories  profess  their  thankfulness  when  they  compare 
their  present  time  with  the  time  of  idolatry  [under  Mary].  But  there  are 
many,  they  state,  without  the  benefits  of  the  Gospel.  '  The  cause  of  which 
ariseth  from  hence,  that  the  greatest  number  of  our  Ministers  are  utterly 
without  learning,  or  very  idle,  or  otherwise  of  very  scandalous  life.'  On  the 
other  hand  those  from  whom  they  '  reaped  comfort  are  from  time  to  time 
molested,  threatened,  and  put  to  silence. '  Similar  in  tenor  is  the  '  Suppli- 
cation of  Certeine  Hundreds  in  Essex  [Hinchford,  Throshwell,  Uttesford, 
Clavering]  to  the  Parliament. '  Their  clergy,  they  say,  are  '  no  preachers, 
some  of  them  having  been  popish  priests.'  Their  profitable  ministers,  men 
of  godly  lives,  '  are  from  time  to  time  for  small  matters  of  the  Booke  of 
Common  Prayer  and  such  like  quarrells,  molested,  suspended,  and  threatened 
to  be  deprived,  and  removed  from  us,  to  the  great  grief  and  sorrow  of  our 
hearts.' — Second  Parte  of  a  Register  (MB.),  Dr.  Williams'  Library,  pp.  749, 
751.  Many  other  petitions  are  given  in  the  Register. 

H 


98  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

position  to  the  patronage  of  Bancroft),  and  Sir  F.  Wal- 
singham.1 

The  Archbishop  replied  in  due  course,  admitting  nothing, 
yielding  nothing,  promising  nothing,  except  to  inquire 
further  when  the  Bishop  of  London  returned  from  the 
country.  The  anxiety  of  the  great  statesmen,  who  made 
illustrious  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  was  to  have  the  people 
under  moral  and  spiritual  discipline ;  the  chief  anxiety  of 
the  official  representative  of  Christianity  was  lest  anything 
should  be  done  '  which  did  not  tend  to  the  peace  of  the 
Church,  the  working  of  obedience  to  law  established.' 2 

4.  Whitgift  and  Robert  Beale,  Clerk  of  the  Council. — 
Following  in  the  footsteps  of  James  Morrice,  another  dis- 
tinguished lawyer,  Robert  Beale,  a  Clerk  of  the  Queen's 
Council,  a  '  man  of  parts  and  some  learning,'  says  Strype, 
drew  up  a  protest  against  the  lawlessness  of  the  Archbishop's 
rule.  The  contents  we  know  from  the  summary  made  by 
the  Primate.  From  this  we  gather  that  Beale  accused  the 
Prelates  of  not  wishing  to  reform  'the  foule  abuses  and 
erormities'  in  the  Church,  which  her  Majesty  commanded 
should  be  redressed.  They  unwarrantably  played  with  the 
word  obedience,  so  that  the  true  intention  of  the  law  was 
frustrated ;  the  Bishops  were  acting  unlawfully  in  the 
manner  they  imposed  ceremonies,  and  in  enforcing  sundry 
points  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  such  as  the  calendar, 
certain  lessons,  '  fastes  uppon  saynts  evens,'  '  A  Most  Godlie 
Prayer  for  her  Majestie  and  the  Bishops,'  wafer  cakes  in  the 
Communion,  etc. :  moreover,  the  Book  authorised  by  Parlia- 
ment was  not  that  in  use,  for  that  so  authorised  was 
described  as  a  certain  book  with  three  additions  ;  that  in 
use  has  many  other  additions  and  is  another  book.  Several 
paragraphs  are  occupied  in  discussing  the  authority  of 
Princes  in  '  things  indifferent,'  and  the  necessity  and  liberty 
in  such  matters.  '  The  Lord  hath  reserved  the  conscience 
of  man  to  be  settled  by  hym  self  in  his  good  tyme,  as  he 
thinketh  meete  in  these  indifferent  thinges  of  dayes  and 

1  Strype,   Whitg.  i.  328.     The  date  is  Sept.  20th,  1584. 
2  Ibid.  i.  331. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  99 

meates  .  .  .  and  therefore  the  magistrate  ought  not  to 
entermeddle  with  that  case ;  .  .  .  and  as  the  Lord  hath  not 
left  the  judgment  of  Christian  doctrine  unto  the  command- 
ment of  any  magistrate  whatsoever,  either  spiritual  or 
temporal,  but  unto  the  particular  conscience  of  every  one  of 
his  sheepe,  ...  so  hath  he  done  for  this  parcell  of  doc- 
trine. .  .  .'  'In  the  Communion  Booke  [Beale]  inisliketh 
the  readinge  of  the  Apocrypha  in  the  Churche ;  private 
baptisme  ;  the  crosse  in  baptisme  ;  interrogatories  ininistred 
unto  infants,  the  ringe  in  marriage,'  He  objects  to  certain 
names,  though  some  have  now  become  by  long  usage 
familiar;  but  there  is  an  authentic  English  note  in  his 
antagonism  to  the  ecclesiastical  jargon  about  '  Eogations, 
Epiphany,  Septuagesima,'  etc.1 

The  Archbishop  criticised  Beale's  animadversions  chiefly 
by  making  small  logical  points,  rather  than  by  addressing 
himself  to  the  substance  of  the  matters  at  issue.  He  rounds 
off  his  observations  by  saying,  '  His  whole  booke,  as  it  is 
without  methode  and  order,  so  is  it  grounded  vpon  false 
principles,  and  argueth  that  he  hath  redde  somethinge,  but 
lacketh  bothe  the  arte  of  logic  and  rhetorick.' 2  Whitgift's 
chief  reliance,  however,  was  not  in  '  logic  and  rhetorick,' 
complacently  as  he  may  have  regarded  his  own  skill  in 
those  exercises.  Now,  as  always,  his  sheet  anchor  is  the 
favour  of  the  Queen  for  her  '  little  black  husband.'  So  he 
writes  her  :  "  Albeyt  I  have  incurred  the  displeasure  of  some, 
and  the  evle  speaches  and  slaunderous  reports  of  verie  manie, 
yet  so  long  as  my  service  shalbe  accepted  of  your  Majestie, 
uppon  whom  onlie,  next  unto  god,  I  doe  depend,  I  wyll  not  be 
discouraged,  nor  fainte  in  my  calling  ;  humbly  beseeching  your 
Majestie  to  continue  your  accustomed  goodnesse  to  me.' 3 

Section  IV. — The  State  of  the  Ministry 

1.  Efforts  to  restrict  Pluralism  and  Non-residency. — With 
the  really  earnest  and  capable  ministers  driven  in  such 

1  Strype,  Whitg.  i.  283  ff.  2  Ibid.  iii.  87,  No.  v. 

3  Cotton  MSS.  Vesp.  C  xiv.  529. 


ioo  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

large  numbers  from  their  charges,  the  evils  of  pluralism 
and  of  non-residency  multiplied  greatly.  This  form  of 
ecclesiastical  corruption  had  never  been  banished  from  the 
Church  when  Popery  was  officially  abandoned.  Under 
Henry  VIII.  an  attempt  was  made  to  keep  the  practice 
within  some  limits.  But  under  Edward,  as  well  in  the 
time  of  reaction  under  Mary,  the  spoliation  of  the  Church 
by  pluralism  was  a  public  scandal.  The  Canons  of  1571 
restrict  the  evil  to  two  benefices — 

It  shall  be  lawfull  for  no  man,  of  what  degree  or  order  soeuer 
he  be,  to  haue  at  one  time  any  more  then  two  ecclesiasticall 
benefices :  neither  shall  it  be  lawfull  for  any  man  at  all,  to  gette 
two  benefices,  if  they  be  distant  more  than  xxvi  miles.' l 

But  it  was  impossible  that  there  should  be  any  rigorous 
amendment  of  the  evils  of  pluralism  while  the  chief 
ministers  of  the  Church  were  the  greatest  offenders  in  this 
respect,  and  when  every  civil  officer  or  court  favourite 
looked  to  this  source  as  the  richest  vein  in  the  limited 
gold-bearing  area  of  England.  Elizabeth  herself  was  a 
chief  offender  in  the  robbery  of  Church  funds.  She  de- 
liberately left  dioceses  vacant  that  she  might  for  the  time 
being  appropriate  their  income.  Rich  livings,  prebends, 
canonries,  were  sweet  morsels  which  she  bestowed  upon  her 
favourites.  In  the  case  of  the  parishes  robbed  by  this 
unprincipled  lay-impropriation,  ill-paid  and  generally  poorly 
qualified  curates  were  appointed  to  their  livings.  The  lives 
of  these  vicarious  ministers  were  often  a  public  scandal ; 
they  haunted  the  taverns  and  sometimes  lodged  there, 
finding  their  chief  occupation  in  dicing  and  drinking.  It 
was  a  perpetuation  of  the  old  Papal  corruption ;  the  same 
system  of  poor  substitutes,  who  frequently  were  evil-living, 

1  Two  other  extracts  from  the  Canons  may  be  conveniently  given  here  : — 

The  absence  of  the  shepheard  from  the  Lordes  flocke  and  that  careles  negligence 
•which  we  doe  see  in  many,  and  forsakyng  of  the  ministerie  is  a  thing  in  it  self  to 
be  abhorred  and  odious,  etc. 

The  farmer  of  a  benefice  shall  have  no  authority  over  the  minister.      No 
minister  shall  '  take  lesse  then  x  poundes  for  his  stipend. 
A  Booke  of  ceriaine  Canons,  1571. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  101 

still  more  frequently  unlearned,  and  always  were   paid  a 
mere  starvation  wage.1 

2.  The  Avarice  of  the  Bishops. — The  sad  truth  is  that 
the  Elizabethan  Bishops,  with  one  or  two  exceptions  only, 
were  guilty  of  shameless  avarice ;  they  plundered  and  ex- 
ploited the  property  of  their  Sees,  regardless  of  law  or 
common  honesty.  Bishop  Westphaling  was  esteemed  by 
his  contemporaries  in  this  matter  to  be  incorruptible  ;  '  even 
the  Bishop  of  Hereford/  says  Martin,  in  coupling  his  name 
with  certain  peccant  Prelates.  But  he  has  apparently  no 
fellow  in  the  episcopal  company.  The  greed  of  John 
Aylmer,  which  was  notorious,  is  referred  to  in  the  TRACTS  ; 
it  is  also  treated  briefly  in  the  separate  notice  of  that  Pre- 
late. All  the  Bishops  were  allowed  to  augment  their 
income  by  holding  several  livings  in  commendam,  as  it  was 
termed.  That  among  the  least  faulty  in  this  respect  were 
Bishop  Jewel  and  Bishop  Parkhurst,  is  what  we  should 
naturally  expect.  In  the  case  of  the  Primates,  their  income 
was  evidently  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  dispense  a 
princely  hospitality  and  yet  to  die  immensely  wealthy. 
Winchester  and  Ely  were  also  so  rich  that  they  offered  no 
colourable  pretence  for  augmentation  by  way  of  '  com- 
mendams.'  Otherwise,  Cox,  we  are  sure,  would  have  secured 
them  ;  for  under  Henry  and  his  son  Edward  he  managed 
to  get  an  archdeaconry  (Ely),  three  canonries,  two  deaneries, 
a  chaplaincy,  a  rectorship,  a  royal  tutorship,  and  the  Master- 
ship of  Bequests ; 2  from  these  combined  lucrative  sources, 
having  food  and  raiment,  he  no  doubt  rejoiced,  like  the 
Apostle,  in  being  content.  Bishop  Hughes  of  St.  Asaph, 
appointed  in  1573,  held  in  commendam  an  archdeaconry 
and  ten  other  benefices ;  and  later  on  added  six  others, 

1  See  an  illuminating  article  on   '  Religious  Education   before  the  Re- 
formation,' by  G.  G.  Coulton,  in  the  Gontemp.  Rev.  for  October  1906.     It 
administers  a  most  necessary  corrective  to  the  Utopian  pictures  of  Abbot 
Gasquet,  whose  delineations  of  the  idyllic  life  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  a  most 
virulent  controversialist  and  a  ruthless  persecutor,  are  true  to  the  facts  of 
Catholic  life  and  rule  in  the  degree  that  Watteau's  nymphs  and  swains  and 
pastoral  scenes  are  true  pictures  of  nature,  and  of  the  '  man  with  a  hoe  '  and 
his  wife. 

2  White's  Eliz.  Bishops,  79. 


102  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

nine  of  the  total  sixteen  being  sinecures.  His  substitutes 
received  a  mere  pittance ;  livings  in  his  gift  he  sold ; 
episcopal  manors  he  leased  for  long  terms  to  his  'wife, 
children,  sisters  and  cousins,'  and  in  the  exercise  of  his 
diocesan  visitations  and  functions  he  exacted  the  uttermost 
farthing  from  his  miserable  clergy.1  Bishop  Meyrick  and 
Archbishop  Young,  in  their  pre-episcopal  days,  were  ap- 
pointed guardians  of  the  vacant  See  of  St.  David's,  and 
proceeded  deliberately  to  steal  the  cathedral  jewels  and 
plate,  and  to  issue  illegally,  for  their  own  gain,  leases  of 
various  lands  belonging  to  the  See.  When  the  austere 
Bishop  Ferrar  came  upon  the  scene,  and  discharged  these 
rogues,  both  of  whom  were  subsequently  elevated  to  the 
episcopal  bench,  they  revenged  themselves  by  formulating 
against  him  a  long  series  of  bogus  charges.  The  Bishop 
was  cast  into  prison,  and  remained  there  till  the  accession 
of  Mary,  when  he  suffered  at  the  stake.2  Young,  when 
appointed  to  the  archiepiscopal  see  of  York,  pulled  down 
the  hall  attached  to  the  cathedral,  '  for  the  greedinesse  of 
the  lead  that  covered  it.'  Harington  tells  us,  with  some- 
thing like  glee,  the  fate  of  the  lead.  A  great  Lord,  to 
whom  Young  was  under  some  obligation,  sent  to  him  to 
borrow  a  thousand  pounds.  The  Archbishop  sent  him  in- 
stead a  present,  enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  effecting  a  loan, 
and  an  assurance  of  the  pleasure  it  would  have  given  him 
to  oblige  his  good  Lord,  had  he  possessed  the  amount.  His 
lordship  just  then  discovered  that  a  ship  laden  with  lead 
belonging  to  the  Lord  Prelate  was  sailing  up  the  Thames. 
He  promptly  boarded  the  vessel,  and  on  the  strength  of 
Young's  letter,  took  possession  of  the  cargo,  and  very 
speedily  obtained  his  thousand  pounds.8 

John  Scory,  some  of  whose  doings  are  recorded  on  an 
earlier  page,  accepted  the  See  of  Hereford  on  the  condition 
of  alienating  seventeen  of  the  manors  to  the  Queen.  He 
complained  to  Burleigh  of  his  poverty,  but  succeeded,  never- 
theless, in  leaving  a  great  fortune  behind  him.  Three 

1  White's  Eliz.  Bishops,  197.  2  Ibid  96. 

3  Briefe  View,  170-72. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  103 

sinecure  prebends  in  Bromwich  collegiate  church  in  his 
bestowal  he  gave  to  his  wife,  and  his  worthless  son  Sylvanus 
received  a  prebend  in  his  father's  cathedral.1  Scory  was 
an  ardent  Protestant ;  but  Harington  wittily  says  of  him, 
that  besides  being  '  a  great  enemy  of  idolatry,  yet  in  another 
sense,  according  to  St.  Paul,  he  worshipped  Images  (not 
Saints  but  Angels  [the  coins]).'  He  adds  that,  '  what  with 
pulling  downe  houses  and  selling  the  Lead,  and  such  loose 
ends,  what  with  setting  up  good  husbandries,  what  with 
Leases  to  tenants,  with  all  manner  of  mis  et  modis  he 
heaped  together  a  Masse  of  wealth.'  Harington  also  tells 
the  story  of  the  '  noble  and  Honourable  Councellour,'  Sir 
Henry  Sidney,  '  then  Lord  President  of  Wales '  who  deter- 
mined on  account  of  the  Bishop's  extortions  and  simonies, 
to  file  '  a  bill  against  him  at  Star  Chamber.'  The  Bishop's 
solicitor  was  dismayed  when  he  read  the  charges,  no  doubt 
knowing  how  true  they  were.  The  Bishop  composed  him 
by  showing  him  some  'legions,  or  rather  chiliads,  of 
Angells,'  which  were  presently  added  to  the  store  of  '  a  Lady 
that  was  potent  with  him  that  was  Dominus  fac  totum ' ; 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact  '  the  Bill  was  never  openly  heard 
of  after.' 2  It  was  a  common  occurrence  that  on  entering 
upon  his  See  one  of  the  earliest  acts  of  a  newly  appointed 
Bishop  was  to  enter  an  action  against  his  predecessor,  or 
his  predecessor's  heirs,  for  the  dilapidation  and  the  illegal 
impoverishment  of  his  See.  But  :often  it  was  the  Queen, 
either  for  herself,  or  in  the  interests  of  her  favourites,  who 
seized  the  cathedral  livings.  The  See  of  Oxford  was  vacant 
for  twenty  years  that  Elizabeth  and  her  favourites  might 
enjoy  its  revenues.  When  the  miserable  John  Underbill 
was  appointed  to  the  denuded  bishopric,  he  found  it  was 
a  starvation  appointment ;  Leicester  was  living  upon  its 
plunder.8  Fletcher,  who  is  specially  noted  as  a  courtly 

1  White,  Eliz.  Sps.  17,  18. 

2  Brief e  View,  130-32. 

3  Harington  deals  in  some  pardonable  sarcasm  in  describing  Leicester's 
quid  pro  quo  for  this  church  robbery.      He  endowed  'a  new  solemne  lecture 
which  Dr.  Reynolds  did  read.   .   .   .   The  many-headed  beast,  the  multitude, 
was  bleared  with  his  bounty '  ;  but  scholars  regarded  it  as  '  stealing  a  goose 


104  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

person,  on  receiving  the  bishopric  of  Bristol,  became  a  prime 
favourite  with  the  Queen  by  leasing  his  manors  to  the 
Queen's  personal  friends  at  a  nominal  rent.  Later  on 
he  himself  was  '  gratified '  by  some  good  '  commendarns.' 
When  he  entered  upon  the  See  of  London  it  cost  him  over 
two  thousand  pounds  in  cash,  to  '  gratify  *  the  Queen's 
nominees ;  he  had  also  to  consent  to  the  alienation  of 
certain  episcopal  estates.  All  the  principal  laymen  fattened 
on  impropriations. 

3.  Jewel's  Denunciation  of  Pluralism. — Nothing  could  be 
better  than  Jewel's  denunciation  of  these  corrupt  practices. 
Arguing  against  the  Papists,  he  reminds  them  of  the  un- 
animity with  which  the  Council  of  Trent,  fourteen  years 
earlier,  had  declared  that  'no  one  at  the  same  time  should 
hold  two  Benefices.'  That  pious  opinion  availed  nothing 
to  abate  the  iniquity.  '  We  not  only  see,'  says  he,  '  two 
Benefices,  but  often  many  Monasteries,  and  two,  three,  and 
even  four  Bishopricks  entrusted  to  one  person :  and  that 
not  only  to  men  unqualified  by  their  ignorance,  but  even 
to  Military  Characters.' *  More  generally,  he  again  testifies 
against  the  practice  in  his  '  Sermons/  He  points  to  the 
hurt  done  to  the  Church  '  when  one  man  taketh  the  profit 
of  two  or  more  benefices,  which  is  not  worthy  of  one.  These 
none-residents  and  plurality-men  teach  not,  they  know  not, 
nor  care  for  the  people  of  their  charge :  they  have  brought 
this  confusion  and  shame  into  the  house  of  God.'  In 
another  place  he  says,  'The  masters  of  the  work  build 
benefice  upon  benefice,  and  deanery  upon  deanery;  as 
though  Rome  were  yet  in  England.  The  poor  flock  is 
given  over  to  the  wolf:  the  poor  children  cry  out  for 
bread,  the  bread  of  life ;  and  there  is  no  man  to  break  it 
to  them.  The  noblemen  or  gentlemen,  the  patrons  of 
benefices,  either  to  be  farmers  themselves,  or  else  with 
exception  of  their  own  tenths,  or  with  some  other  condition 

and  sticking  a  feather.'  But  Harington  is  in  error  when  he  describes  this 
as  'the  true  Theorique  and  Practique  of  Puritanisme,'  as  the  notes  which 
follow  sufficiently  show  us.  See  Brief e  View,  149,  150  ;  Fuller's  Ch.  Hist, 
(ed.  1837),  ii.  bk.  ix.  p.  483. 

1  Apology  (ed.  Isaacson,  1825),  161. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  105 

that  is  worse  than  this.  The  poor  minister  must  keep  his 
house,  buy  him  books,  relieve  ^hg  poor,  and  live,  God 
knoweth  how,  and  so  do  yoi| 

4.  Whitgift's  Defence  ofMem&oi& — True  to  their  char- 
acter, Whitgift  and  his  crlatures  Ire  stout  defenders  of 
pluralism.  The  Archbishoi,  as  we  have  already  noted, 
defends  everything  pertaining  to  the  established  order  and 
practice,  even  to  contradic^jjy  tr^^latiorWof  the  Scrip- 
tures. When  the  Q^liament,  representing*  .the  opinion  of 
serious  Protestant  laymen  without  distinction,  reasonable 
Conformist  and  moderate  Nonconforpw&t  alike,  sought  to 
abolish  both  pluralities  aii'd-iheir  consequential  non-residency, 
he  drew  up  a  paper  of  reasons }  against  the  proposal.  The 
reasons  are  of  interest  as  repres 
operating  in  the  formation  of  t 


enting  the  influences  then 
e  State  Church,  as  well  as 
to  the  portrait  of  Whitgift. 
>ecause,  '  I.  It  taketh  ,away 
•owne  of  England,  25  4  en- 
Edw.  VI.  and  continued  1 


adding  a  few  characteristic  lines 
He  opposes  the  Commons'  Bill, 
the  prerogative  #nnexecl.\  to  the  c 
VIII.  continued  in  the  time  of 
Eliz.  II.  It  alkidgeth  the  revenues  of  the  crowne-;  for  the 
one  half  of  such  laculties  [payniejnts  for  breaking  the  law 
against  pluralties]  is  due  to  her  jd4jesty.  III.  It  deprivetli 
learned  men  of  due  rewardej  aittd  is  the  next  way  to  an 
unlearned  ministerie  and  to  the  taking  away  of  schoole 
degrees  in  divinitie.  IV.  It_leojJJreth  an  impossibilitie,  for 
of  eight  thousand  eight  hundr^dP  and  odd  benefices,  with 
cure,  there  are  not  six  hundred  Sufficient  for  learned  men  ; 
neither  (if  they  were  all  sufificiej^t)  could  there  be  found  the 
third  part  of  learned  men  t^>-  supplie  that  number.  V.  It 
taketh  away  grave  men  arf  apt  governors  from  the  Uni- 
versities and  other  coljg^es ;  which  (being  but  of  verie 
small  livings,  as  divers  of  the  mastershipps  but  fortie 
shillings  a  yere  wages)  are  not  able  to  maintains  their 
governors,  without  suche  helpe  of  benejiec.s.  Vl^fft 
spoileth  cathedral  churches  of  house-keepinge :  for"  without 
other  helpe  they  cannot  do  it ;  and  beinge  compelled  to  be 
resident  at  their  benefices  continuallie,  they  cannot  keep 

1    Works  (Park.  Soc.),  ii.  984,  999. 


io6  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

convenient  hospitalitie  at  the  cathedral  churche.  VII.  It 
increaseth  the  number  of  the  factious  and  waywarde  sort ; 
in  furtherance  of  whome,  principallie,  this  bill  semeth  to 
be  devised.  VIII.  Her  Majesty  hath  it  now  in  her  owne 
power  to  redresse  (as  pleaseth  her)  any  thing  mentioned  in 
this  bill ;  but  if  the  bill  should  once  passe,  and  become  a 
lawe,  then  were  it  not  in  her  power  to  revoke  it,  what  in- 
convenience soever  should  ensue,  and  it  may  be  thought  no 
good  pollicie  for  her  Majesty  to  abridge  any  pece  of  her 
prerogative,  which  they  seeke  by  all  means  to  streighten. 
IX.  To  conclude,  It  is  a  most  dangerous  bill  for  the  beste 
sorte  of  the  Clargie,  and  for  such  as  beste  deserve  to  be 
rewarded;  ;and  will  assuredlie  discomfort  and  discourage 
them,  and  incourage  the  worste  sorte,  and  such  as  are 
factious  and  contentious  in  the  Churche ;  whose  end  is,  to 
seek  the  spoyle  and  overthrowe  of  the  same.' l 

Such  were  the  frivolous  and  worldly  reasons  of  this 
courtier-priest,  this  archbishop-in- waiting ;  so  mindful  of 
the  prerogatives  and  revenues  of  her  Majesty  and  the 
comfort  of  clerical  dignitaries ;  so  unmindful  of  the  poor, 
hungry,  unevangelised  sheep  of  his  fold.  Following  in  his 
wake  comes  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Thomas  Cooper, 
writing  an  official  reply  on  behalf  of  the  episcopate,  to 
the  animadversions  of  Martin  Marprelate.  He  will  hear 
nothing  which  diminishes  the  wealth  of  the  Bishops  and 
clergy.  He  looks  back  gratefully  to  the  enrichment  of  the 
Church  by  '  Constantine  that  woorthy  and  godlie  prince,' 
and  covers  up  all  the  evil  against  which  the  country  was 
protesting,  by  saying  that  only  by  the  hope  of  rich  rewards 
were  the  '  young  wittes '  to  be  allured  to  the  ministry ;  a 
meaner  style  of  life  would  be  '  a  more  vehement  temptation 
to  carry  away  their  mindes  from  the  care  of  their  Office, 
then  nowe  their  ample  and  large  livings.' 2  Bancroft  comes 
naturally  in  the  succession  of  defenders  of  pluralism.  In 
his  case  it  was  emphatically  self  -  defence.  He  held 

1  Strype,   Whitgift,  i.  380. 

2  Cooper's  Admonition,  25,  183,  and  the  section  159  to  the  end,  generally. 
(Arber's  ed.  24,  135,  120-79.) 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  107 

canonries  in  St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,  Westminster,  Canterbury, 
and  St.  Paul's,  besides  the  rectories  of  Feversham  and  St. 
Andrew's,  Holborn.  His  defence  is  only  notable  as  evi- 
dence that  he  had  no  sense  of  the  scandalous  nature  of  his 
pluralities.  That  was  left  to  the  clearer  vision  of  the  lay- 
man. The  House  o^ Commons  in  1588  passed  a  Bill 
which  would  have  removed  this  evil  from  the  Church ;  it 
prohibited  pluralism,  except  in  the  case  of  two  small  and 
adjacent  livings,  and  compelled  residence.  But  through 
the  energetic  activity  of  the  Bishops  it  was  wrecked  in  the 
House  of  Lords.1 


TYPICAL  LAY  OPINIONS  ON  PLURALISM  AND  NON-RESIDENCY. — The 
evils  of  pluralism  and  non-residency  are  dealt  with  in  two  typical 
works  by  contemporary  laymen  ;  works  which  form  no  part  of  the 
general  ecclesiastical  controversies  of  the  time.  In  A  Compendious 
or  briefe  examination  of  certayne  ordinary  complaints  of  diuers  of  our 
countrey  men  in  these  dayes,  published  in  1581  '  cum  priuilegio,3  the 
author,  W[illiam]  Stafford],  who  discusses  his  various  topics  *  by  way 
of  dialogues,'  summing  up  his  own  views  in  the  person  of  a  Doctor  ; 
the  other  characters  being  a  Knight,  a  Husband  [man],  a  Capper,  and 
a  Marchaunt.  Replying  to  the  opinion  that  until  ministers  reform 
schisms  will  continue,  the  Doctor  replies  :  '  How  many  of  vs  haue 
reformed  ourselues,  yea,  so  much  as  in  our  outwarde  duties,  where- 
unto  we  are  bound  both  by  Gods  Lawe  and  our  cannons  lawes  and 
decrees  ?  how  many  moe  of  vs  haue  resorted  to  our  benefices  to  be 
resident  thereon,  which  not  onely  by  the  said  lawes,  but  also  upon 
greate  penaltyes  wee  are  bound  vnto  by  the  lawes  of  this  Realme  1 
How  many  lesse  now  than  before  haue  studyed  [schemed]  to  heape 
Benefice  upon  Benefice,  when  wee  bee  skante  able  to  discharge  one  of 
them  ?  What  better  tryall  and  examination  is  there  nowe  in  admyt- 
tyng  of  mynisters  of  the  church  ?  What  more  exacte  search  is  made 
by  our  Bishops,  for  worthy  men  to  be  admitted  to  the  cure  of  souls  ? 
.  .  .  Do  they  ['our  Prelates  and  Bishops']  not  lurke  in  their 
mansions  and  manour  places  far  from  theyr  Cathedrall  churches  as 
they  were  wont,  and  skant  once  a  yeare  wil  see  their  pryncipall 
church  where  they  ought  to  be  continually  resident?  .  .  .  How 
can  men  be  content  to  pay  ye  tenth  of  theyr  goods  which  they  get 
wyth  theyr  sore  laboure  and  sweate  of  theyr  browes,  when  they 
cannot  haue  for  it  agayne  neither  ghostly  cornforte  nor  bodely  1  .  .  . 
Is  [sic]  there  not  statutes  made  in  parliament  for  [enforcing]  residence, 

1  See  Strype,  Annals,  in.  pt.  ii.  53  ;  Brook,  Lives,  i.  54  ;  Fuller,  Oh. 
Hist.  bk.  ix. 


io8  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

and  for  restraining  of  pluralitie  of  benefices  V  Therefore,  to  avoid 
schism  the  'Doctor'  concludes  that  they,  the  clergy,  must  reforme 
themselves,  reside  upon  their  living,  content  themselves  'wyth  one 
Benefice  a  piece,'  and  with  its  income,  'without  deuising  of  other 
extraordinary  and  unlawfull  gaines.'  Fol.  51  vers.  et  seq. 

A  more  celebrated  work  is  The  Anatomic  of  Abuses  :  Contayning  A 
Discoverie,  or  Brief e  Summarie  of  such  Notable  Vices  and  Imperfections 
as  now  raigne  in  many  Christian  Gountreyes  of  the  Worlde  :  but  (especiallie) 
in  a  verie  famous  Ilande  called  Aligna  of  late,  as  in  other  places  else 
where.  Verie  Godly,  to  be  read  of  all  true  Christians  euerie  where ;  but 
most  needefull  to  be  regarded  in  Enylande.  Made  dialogue-wise  by  Phillip 
Stubbes.  Seene  and  allowed,  etc.,  1583.  In  the  first  part  of  his  book 
Stubbes  gives  a  formidable  account  of  the  dissolute  vice  attending 
may-games,  church  ales,  etc.  In  the  second  part  he  takes  up  his 
parable  against  pluralism. 

Theodorus  :  '  That  is  an  horrible  abuse,  that  one  man  should  haue 
two  or  three  or  halfe  a  dozen  benefices  apeece  as  some  haue  ;  may 
anie  man  haue  so  manie  liuings  at  one  time,  by  the  lawe  of  God,  and 
good  conscience  1 ' 

Ampilogus  [i.e.  Stubbes]  :  '  As  it  is  not  lawfull  for  anie  man  to 
haue  or  enioie  two  wives  at  once,  so  it  is  not  lawfull  for  any  man 
how  excellent  soeuer  to  haue  mo  benefices,  mo  flockes,  cures  or  charges 
in  his  handes  than  one  at  once.  .  .  .  No  man  though  he  were  as 
learned  as  Sainte  Paule  or  the  apostles  themselues,  to  whom  were 
giuen  supernaturall  and  extraordinarie  giftes  and  graces,  is  able 
sufficientlie  to  discharge  his  dutie  in  the  instruction  of  one  church,  or 
congregation,  much  lesse  three  or  foure,  or  halfe  a  dozen  as  some 
haue.  ...  Is  it  possible  for  any  shepheard  though  he  were  neuer  so 
cunning  a  man  to  keepe  two  or  three  flocks  or  mo  at  once,  and  to 
teed  them  wel  .  .  .  they  being  distant  from  him  ten,  twentie,  fortie, 
sixtie,  and  hundred,  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  miles  ? '  Stubbes 
proceeds  to  urge  that  as  food  for  the  body  so  the  preached  word  is 
needful  for  the  soul,  and  pluralists,  being  necessarily  absentees,  allow 
the  people  to  starve  spiritually.  It  is  true  their  places  are  occupied 
by  deputies  ;  but  these  are  '  fitter  to  feed  hogs  than  Christian  soules.' 
Possibly  they  can  read  the  service,  but  that  done,  the  rest  of  the 
week  they  spend  swilling  in  the  tavern.  The  pluralists  avoid  the  law 
by  buying  a  dispensation  or  becoming  a  nobleman's  chaplain.  'But,' 
says  Stubbes,  '  I  maruell  whether  they  thinke  that  these  licenses  shall 
be  for  good  paiment  at  the  daie  of  iudgement  ? ' — Pp.  75-79. 

5.  An  Unlearned  Ministry. — Vitally  connected  with  the 
Episcopal  policy  of  exacting  a  narrow  conformity  in  external 
things,  and  sequestrating  large  numbers  of  able  and  effective 
preachers  and  faithful  pastors,  was  the  crying  evil  of  filling 
the  pulpits,  which  were  not  annexed  by  the  pluralists,  with 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  109 

men  unworthy  for  various  reasons  to  occupy  them.  The 
petitions  from  parishes  cited  on  an  earlier  page  sorrowfully 
testifies  to  this,  and  every  reforming  tract  of  the  time  refers 
to  the  scandal.  Had  the  people  the  simple  Christian  right 
of  choosing  their  own  minister,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  evil  would  have  been  avoided.  But 
whatever  views  the  Bishops  entertained  in  regard  to  this 
natural  remedy  for  the  wrongs  against  which  the  people 
petitioned  and  protested,  they  were  entirely  overshadowed 
by  their  dread  of  '  popularity ' — democracy,  as  we  should 
term  it.  They  sparingly  acknowledge  the  facts  which  the 
laymen  were  bringing  before  their  notice.  ( That  some 
lewd  and  unlearned  ministers  haue  bene  made,  it  is  mani- 
fest :  I  wil  not  seeme  to  defend  it/  says  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester.1  '  I  confesse  freely,'  says  K.  Some,  an  official 
apologist,  '  that  their  entrance  into  the  priesthoode  and 
ministerie,  and  continuance  in  it  most  absurdly  was  and  is 
a  greevous  sinne.  .  .  .  You  write  [he  is  answering  Penry] 
that  ignorant  ministers,  whome  you  call  senseless  men,  doe 
sell  them  selues  bodie  and  soule  to  euerlasting  destruction. 
Your  speech  is  true  :  Illi  viderint.  Let  them,  if  they  be  not 
gracelesse  and  shamelesse,  looke  vnto  it.'  2 

The  persons  who  naturally  might  be  expected  to  '  looke 
vnto  it '  were  not  the  unsuitable  and  unworthy  beneficiaries, 
but  the  Bishops  who  consented  to  ordain  them.  The 
majority  of  the  Bishops  were  guilty  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  of  opening  the  door  of  the  ministry  to  such  men ; 
while  some  of  their  lordships  were  utterly  reckless  and 
unprincipled  in  the  matter.  In  all  parts  of  the  country 
complaints  were  heard  of  men  devoid  of  character  and 
ability  entering  into  benefices,  yet  duly  furnished  with 
Episcopal  letters  of  ordination;  how  blasphemous  such 
ordinations  must  have  been  it  is  only  necessary  to  read 
the  ritual  prescribed  to  realise.  Aylmer,  Bishop  of  London, 
when  his  purblind  gate-porter  was  no  longer  fit  for  service, 
appointed  him  to  the  cure  of  Paddington.3  In  a  conference 

1  Admonition,  99,  100  [Arber's  ed.  82.]  2  A  Godly  Treatise,  194,  195. 

3  See  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  sig.  2  rect, 


no  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

with  her  Bishops  and  some  of  her  chief  Ministers  of  State, 
convened  by  the  Queen  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the 
episcopal  subsidies,  Elizabeth  complained  that  some  of  the 
wiser  and  more  discreet  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
had  a  '  just  cause  of  grievance '  against  some  of  the  Bishops, 
because  they  had  not  '  greater  care  in  making  Ministers ' ; 
adding  that '  some  be  of  such  lewd  life  and  corrupt  behaviour, 
whereof  we  know  of  some  such,  that  be  not  worthy  to  come 
into  any  honest  company.'  Burleigh,  one  of  those  present, 
renewed  the  accusation  before  the  assembly  dispersed.  c  Her 
Majesty  hath  declared  to  you,'  said  he,  '  a  marvellous  great 
fault,  in  that  you  make  in  this  time  of  Light  so  many  lewd 
and  unlearned  Ministers.'  He  admitted  that  he  was  not 
accusing  any  of  those  then  present.  '  It  is/  he  proceeded, 
'  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry  that  I  mean,  who  made 
Ixx  Ministers  in  one  day,  for  Money ;  some  Taylors,  some 
shoemakers,  and  other  Craftsmen.  I  am  sure  the  greater 
part  of  them  are  not  worthy  to  keep  horses.'  The  Bishop 
of  Rochester  admitted  that  he  had  heard  of  '  one  that  had 
made  seven  in  one  day ' ;  for  his  part  he  had  '  never  made 
above  three  in  one  day.'  Whitgift  would  make  no  such 
admission ;  in  his  judgment  there  were  never  a  greater 
number  of  learned  ministers ;  but  that  the  country  could 
not  yield  a  learned  minister  for  each  of  the  thirteen  thou- 
sand parishes.  '  Jesus  ! '  ejaculated  the  Queen,  '  thirteen 
thousand  !  It  is  not  to  be  looked  for.'  But  she  brought 
back  the  evasive  Archbishop  to  the  gravamen  of  the  charge 
by  remarking  that  she  did  not  require  him  to  make  only 
learned  ministers,  since  that  was  impossible,  but  that  those 
ordained  should  be  '  honest,  sober,  and  wise  men,  and  such 
as  can  reade  the  Scriptures  and  Homilies  well  unto  the 
People.'  And  with  that  clear  common-sense  utterance  '  she 
rose,  thanked  the  Bishops  and  bad  them  fare  well.'  *  Bishop 
Cooper,  in  a  written  annotation  in  the  margin  of  a  tract 
entitled,  An  Answere  to  certain  Pieces  of  a  sermon  made  at 
Pauls  Cross,  etc.,  by  Dr.  Cooper  bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  which 

1  S.  P.  Dom.   Eliz.,   1585,  No.   69  [27th  Feb.   1584-85].      No.  69  is  a 
later  transcript  of  No.  68,  which  is  in  a  contemporary  hand. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  in 

he  was  charged  with  '  maintaining  of  an  ignorant  and 
unlearned  ministry/  rebuts  the  charge.  '  I  did  not  allow 
them,  nor  shew  myself  to  like  well  of  them,  but  bewailed 
the  cause,  and  wished  the  continuance  only  in  respect  of 
necessity.  And  in  comparison  of  papistical  priests,  I  some- 
what diminished  the  grievousness  of  the  crime.'  This  was 
a  plea  in  mitigation  which  apparently  he  had  used  in  his 
sermon,  and  the  writer  of  the  criticism  refers  to  it  with 
some  measure  of  contempt.1 

6.  Whitgift's  Character  and  Opinions. — In  the  earlier 
pages  of  this  Introduction,  and  in  the  frequent  reference  to 
him  in  the  TRACTS,  there  is  evidence  drawn  from  various 
sources  as  to  the  character  of  Whitgift,  who,  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  was  the  chief  perse- 
cutor of  the  Nonconformists  and  of  all  who  advocated  any 
reform  of  the  established  order  of  religion.  It  is  really 
necessary  to  know  this  man  in  order  to  understand  both  the 
appearance  and  the  special  character  of  Martin  Marprelate's 
writings,  as  well  as  to  understand  the  intense  hatred  with 
which  he  was  regarded  by  all  classes  of  the  reforming 
party.  The  gentlest  of  them  was  fired  with  instant  indig- 
nation at  the  mention  of  his  name. 

Whitgift  was  one  of  the  most  consistent  of  men. 
Throughout  his  even  career  of  promotion  there  is  only  one 
single  wayward  note ; 2  all  else  is  subjected  to  the  chief 
aims  which  he  set  before  him  in  life.  No  folly,  no  human 
weakness,  no  sentimental  yielding  to  the  cry  of  intellectual 
or  physical  suffering,  no  perilous  subjugation  to  woman's 
beauty  or  passion,  hindered  his  progress.  Nor,  it  may  be 
said,  did  threats  or  the  open  opposition  of  men  of  place  and 
power  intimidate  him  or  turn  him  aside  in  his  way ;  he 
budged  not  an  inch  to  the  best  of  them.  He  had  no  love 

1  Strype,  Annals,  n.  i.  287,  291. 

2  When  the  disturbance  arose  at  Cambridge  over  the  question  of  Vest- 
ments in  1565,  several  of  the  Heads  and  other  notables,  fearing  the  departure 
of  many  of  the  learned  from  the  university  and  the  consequent  reduction  in 
the  number  of  the  students,  sent  a  petition  to  Burleigh  asking  for  a  little 
relaxation  of  the  royal  edict.      Among  others  it  was  signed  by  Whitgift. 
But  he,  finding  it  was  ill  received,  soon  apologised  to  the  Queen,  and  never 
repeated  his  error. — Strype's  Parker,  i.  386,  iii.  125. 


H2  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

of  ease ;  he  was  no  thrall  to  the  comfort  and  luxury  of  his 
palaces ;  to  him  Canterbury  was  no  Capua ;  busy  he  was 
always ;  alert,  tireless,  trimming  his  sails  to  every  breath  of 
favouring  wind  which  should  urge  his  vessel  along  its 
assigned  course ;  his  success  was  inevitable.  It  is  only 
upon  a  larger  view  that  we  see  that  his  success  was  a  tragic 
failure ;  that  the  intolerant  spirit  and  rigidity  of  ceremonial 
order  with  which  he  sought  so  passionately  to  crush  every 
note  of  dissent,  have  only  too  successfully  perpetuated  Non- 
conformity ;  made  it  inevitable,  an  irrepressible  assertion  of 
the  freedom  of  the  human  soul.  The  delusion  of  Whitgiftism 
lies  in  supposing  that  its  immediate  power  of  physical 
repression  is  a  cure  of  all  differences  and  divisions. 

Early  in  his  life  Whitgift  was  swept  by  the  tide  of  the 
Reformation  into  the  Protestant  camp ;  and  there,  so  far  as 
credal  assent  goes,  he  remained  unchanged  to  the  end.  But 
Protestantism  is  more  than  an  intellectual  assent  to  a 
reformed  creed  :  it  is  the  release  of  a  new  spirit ;  a  buoyant 
and  adventurous  temper  of  the  mind,  a  self-realisation  of 
the  freedom  and  the  prerogatives  of  the  soul.  And  to  the 
ethos  of  Protestantism  Whitgift  was  entirely  a  stranger. 

Being  at  Cambridge,  a  newly  elected  Fellow  of  Peter- 
house,  at  the  time  of  Mary's  accession,  he  very  soon  reached 
a  juncture  when  his  adhesion  to  his  reformed  confession 
was  to  be  put  to  the  test.  He  had  become,  before  being 
elected  to  this  fellowship,  a  student  at  Pembroke  Hall — as 
then  it  was — and  had  been  favoured  by  the  Master, 
Nicholas  Ridley.  His  tutor  at  Pembroke  was  the  brilliant 
exponent  of  the  reformed  faith,  John  Bradford.  Both  of 
these  men  suffered  at  the  stake  the  previous  year,  1555. 
And  now  the  University  was  to  be  visited  by  the  Primate, 
the  new  Cardinal  and  Papal  Legate,  Reginald  Pole,  known 
for  his  share  in  reintroducing  the  inhuman  Act,  De  haeretico 
comburendo,  as  Ecclesiae  Anglicanae  carnifex  et  flagellum.  His 
business  was  to  purify  the  University  from  its  notorious 
sympathy  with  the  principles  of  the  Reformation ;  to  see 
that  those  whose  studies  qualified  them  for  the  rite,  should 
receive  the  first  tonsure,  with  the  view  of  entering  the 


WHITGIFT'S   PRIMACY  113 

priesthood.  Among  this  latter  number  was  Whitgift.  He 
at  once  determined  to  fly  to  the  Continent ;  and  well  had 
it  been  for  his  enduring  reputation  had  he  done  so. 

But  the  Master  of  Peterhouse  at  this  time  was  the 
notorious  Andrew  Perne,  whose  facility  in  changing  his 
creed  with  each  ecclesiastical  variation  in  government,  made 
him  a  byword.1  A  pro-Martinist  writer  calls  him  '  the 
notablest  turncoate  in  al  this  land,  there  is  none  comparable 
to  him.'2  On  St.  George's  Day  (April  23rd),  1547,  Perne 
preached  at  St.  Andrew's  Undershaft,  London,  in  support  of 
the  Romish  doctrine  of  the  adoration  of  pictures  of  Christ 
and  of  the  saints.  This,  however,  was  the  year  of  the 
accession  of  Edward  VI.  Therefore,  on  June  17th  fol- 
lowing, he  was  induced  to  recant  that  doctrine  in  the  same 
church.  Edward  made  him  one  of  his  chaplains  and  gave 
him  a  pension,  his  conversion  seemed  so  heartfelt  and 
thorough.  Indeed  he  declared  against  transubstantiation 
after  the  coming  of  Mary.  Dr.  Weston  then  convinced 
him  that  he  was  contradicting  Catholic  doctrine.  With 
some  alacrity  he  abjured  his  errors,  and  again  had  not  long 
to  wait  for  his  reward.  During  this  visit  to  Cambridge, 
Cardinal  Pole  had  the  bodies  of  Bucer  and  Fagius,  two 
Continental  reformers  whose  teaching  had  so  profoundly 
influenced  the  University,  disinterred  and  burnt.  In  con- 
nection with  this  unseemly  piece  of  bigotry  Perne  preached 
a  sermon.3  With  the  coronation  of  Elizabeth  he  was  of 
course  once  more  a  Protestant ;  and  to  give  an  unavoidably 
humorous  completion  to  his  gyrations,  he  preached  the 
sermon,  when  the  names  of  Bucer  and  Fagius  were  restored 
to  their  former  honours.4  It  was  Perne's  influence  which 
restrained  Whitgift  from  going  into  exile,  promising  him 
protection,  and  the  avoidance  of  the  tonsure.  This  Perne 
succeeded  in  doing,  though,  no  doubt,  Whitgift  was  com- 
pelled to  yield  sufficient  outward  conformity  to  enable  him 

1  He  is  continually  referred  to  in  the  TRACTS,   usually   as    the    '  old 
Turner.'     See  THE  EPISTLE,  20,  32  ;  THE  EPITOME,  C  iv.  vers. 

2  A  Dialogue  wlicrin  is  plainly  laide  open,  sig.  D  2,  vers. 

3  See  THE  EPISTLE,  10,  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  22. 

4  See  principally  his  life  in  the  D.N.B. 

I 


ii4  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

to  escape  the  suspicion  of  heresy.  It  was  no  very  heroic 
or  even  decent  line  of  conduct  to  take,  though  we  can 
allow  much  to  men  in  peril  of  being  brutally  burnt  to 
death.  Nor  need  we  doubt  his  genuine  relief  when 
Elizabeth  brought  back  again  the  Protestant  faith.  We 
cannot,  however,  regard  with  anything  but  contempt,  after 
five  years  of  such  dissembling,  that,  being  appointed  under 
the  new  regime  to  preach  at  Great  St.  Mary's,  he  should 
have  had  the  audacious  effrontery  to  take  for  his  text,  '  I 
am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel.' 

From  this  point  onwards,  with  the  one  exception  already 
noted,  his  method  and  his  aims  are  steadfast  and  unvarying. 
While  climbing  up  to  the  primacy,  he  was  a  model  of 
deference  and  humble  submission  to  those  whom  he  regarded 
as  of  higher  rank,  and  whose  favour  was  needful  for  his 
promotion.  His  intercourse  with  Archbishop  Parker  is  an 
illustration  of  this ;  how  he  treated  the  memory  of  the 
dead  Primate  has  been  shown.  When  he  became  himself 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  he  recognised  no  one,  save  the 
Queen,  to  be  his  superior,  he  himself  being,  as  Martin 
taunts  him  with  saying,  '  the  second  person  in  the  realm.' 
To  the  Queen  he  continued  to  the  end  a  flatterer  and  a 
courtier,  and  seldom  failed  to  secure  her  authority  for  his 
high-handed  policy.  His  only  seeming  resistance  to 
Elizabeth  was  on  the  score  of  her  shameless  robbery  of 
Church  property;  and  in  these  cases  he  never  ventured 
beyond  a  whining  appeal  ad  misericordiam ;  moreover,  his 
jealousy  on  behalf  of  the  property  of  the  Church  is  to  be 
qualified  by  the  fact  that  it  only  manifested  itself  when 
that  property  was  misappropriated  by  laymen.  No  moral 
convictions  entertained  by  him  were  scandalised  by  the 
alienation  of  Church  possessions.  His  was  the  zeal  of  the 
bureaucrat  for  his  office — of  the  ecclesiastical  potentate  for 
the  magnificence,  wealth,  and  overawing  power  of  his 
dominions.  One  of  the  most  successful  of  Whitgift's 
methods  of  establishing  his  power  was  his  carefully-con- 
sidered bestowal  of  all  the  patronage  that  came  within  his 
grasp  upon  those  who  were  prepared  to  carry  out  his  wishes. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  115 

Whatever  be  the  credit  due  to  him  from  the  fact,  it 
must  certainly  be  acknowledged  that  those  who  served  him 
with  respectful  zeal,  whose  obedience  was  not  tempered  by 
too  nice  scruples  or  by  personal  views,  never  failed  of  their 
reward.  He  would  hear  nothing  against  them.  He  de- 
fended them  against  all  charges,  as  he  defended  the 
Apocrypha.  If  the  agent  showed  the  genuine,  incurious, 
dog- like  fidelity,  no  venial  slip  could  alienate  the  Arch- 
bishop's favour,  any  more  than  legends  such  as  Bel  and  the 
Dragon  caused  him  to  waver  in  his  defence  of  the  Apoc- 
rypha. Many  even  of  his  friends  thought  the  peculiar 
favour  he  showed  the  'old  turncoat,'  Andrew  Perne, 
somewhat  compromising,  as  indeed  it  was ;  but  Perne  had 
befriended  Whitgift  in  his  early  days,  had  supported  his 
policy  in  the  later  years  of  his  episcopal  and  archiepiscopal 
authority,  untroubled  by  any  moral  scruples.  Whatever, 
therefore,  the  jade  Eumour  might  say  of  Perne,  Whitgift 
would  admit  nothing  to  the  prejudice  of  his  early  benefactor 
and  his  constant  abetter.1  Similarly  Aylmer,  whom  Whit- 
gift regarded  as  a  colleague  and  a  confederate  in  the  game 
of  ecclesiastical  politics,  so  long  as  he  '  plays  the  game/  is 
secure  of  the  Archbishop's  defence.  Aylmer  never  ventures 
himself  on  any  vindication  of  his  unfortunate  book  The 
Harborowe,  except  the  diplomatic  defence  that  when  he  was 
a  child  he  spake  as  a  child.  It  was  the  indiscretion  of  his 
intemperate  youth,  and  the  reprinting  of  his  rash  statements 
by  Martin  Marprelate,  was  the  prick  of  the  rowel  in  the 
flank  of  Aylmer's  persecuting  zeal.  Whitgift,  however, 
would  offer  no  such  weak  admissions  to  the  enemy.  When 
one  Thomas  Norton  wrote  to  him  warning  him  of  the  perils 
of  authorship  by  the  example  of  Aylmer's  failure  to  gain 

1  '  Howsoever  the  world  uncharitably  judgeth  of  him  [Perne],  and  of  me 
for  using  his  familiarity  (being  by  sundry  means  bound  unto  him  and 
knowing  him  very  well),  yet  the  day  will  come  when  both  they  and  we 
shall  be  known,  as  we  are.' — Strype,  Whitgift,  i.  63.  The  matter  is  alluded 
to  satirically  in  Gabriel  Harvey's  Pierce' s  Supererogation,  and  was  a  matter 
of  contemporary  common  talk,  as  Whitgift  himself  recognises.  On  his 
accession  to  the  primacy,  Whitgift  endeavoured  to  get  his  friend  appointed 
to  a  bishopric  ;  but  without  being  over- fastidious  in  such  matters,  Elizabeth 
could  not  swallow  Perne. 


n6  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

preferment  by  his  '  unseasonable  paradox/  Whitgift  occupied 
the  singular  position  of  defending  The  Harborowe.  '  Master 
Elmer's  doctrine  was  neither  unseasonable  nor  yet  a 
paradox,  but  a  common  true  received  opinion,  grounded  on 
the  express  words  of  Scripture,'  he  roundly  declared ;  nor 
was  it  written,  he  daringly  added,  to  gain  him  preferment.1 
Whitgift  carried  out  his  system  with  unremitting 
thoroughness  during  the  long  period  of  his  archiepiscopacy. 
He  even  entered  into  the  intrigue  of  secular  politics  to 
strengthen  his  plans,  strongly  assisted  in  this  by  the  frank 
worldly  wisdom  of  his  chaplain,  Richard  Bancroft.  During 
the  absence  of  his  avowed  opponent  the  Earl  of  Leicester  in 
the  Low  Countries,  the  Archbishop  seized  the  opportunity 
to  get  himself  and  two  of  his  supporters,  the  Lords  Cobham 
and  Buckhurst,  sworn  members  of  the  Privy  Council ;  and 
thereafter  had  much  less  difficulty  both  in  getting  access 
to  the  Queen,  and  also  in  getting  authorisation  for  his 
oppressive  policy.2  Next  he  succeeded  in  getting  his  pliant 
tool  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  made  Lord  Chancellor.  The 
naif  old  gossip  Paule,  in  giving  us  these  details  of  the 
Lambeth  League,  says  of  the  new  Chancellor,  '  His  advance- 
ment did  much  to  strengthen  the  Archbishop  and  his 
friends.'  3  Later  he  had  Hatton  elected  Chancellor  of  the 
University  of  Oxford ;  and  naturally  we  read  that  '  the 
Archbishop  ever  found  [him]  a  great  assistant  in  bridling 
and  reforming  the  intemperate  humour  of  these  novelists 
[innovators].' 4  Apart  from  his  patron,  Hatton  was  recog- 
nised to  be  a  mere  man  of  straw ;  '  a  mere  Vegetable  of  the 
Court,  that  sprung  up  at  Night  and  sunk  again  at  his 
Noon/  says  Sir  Robert  Naunton.5  A  greater  man  would 

1  Strype,   Whitgift,  i.  65. 

2  '  When  the  Archbishop  was  thus  established  in  friendship  with  these 
noble  personages  as  aforesaid,  their  favours  and  his  place  wrought  him  free 
access  to  the  Queen,  and  gracious  motions  in  the  Church's  behalf.     His 
courses  then  at  the  Council  Board  were  not  so  much  crossed  nor  impeached 
as  heretofore.' — Panic's  Whitgift  (Words,  ed.),  p.  350. 

3  Ibid.     Hereafter  we  find  in  most  of  the  records  of  the  trials  of  Non- 
conformists the  names  of   Hatton,    Cobham,   and   Buckhurst   among   the 
unwavering  advocates  of  persecuting  severity  of  treatment. 

4  Ibid.  p.  351. 

6  Fragmenta  Regalia  ;  Phoenix,  i.  205. 


WHITGIFT'S   PRIMACY  117 

have  been  less  serviceable.  It  shows  us,  however,  how 
sure  of  favour  men  were  who  became  humble  and  un- 
questioning supporters  of  the  Archbishop's  policy.  Indeed, 
there  appear  to  have  been  at  this  time  three  sure  paths  to 
high  ecclesiastical  preferment,  not  one  of  them  involving 
the  possession  of  marked  spiritual  or  intellectual  gifts. 
The  first  was  to  write  denouncing  the  Puritans  ;  the  second, 
to  marry  one  of  Bishop  Barlow's  five  excellent  daughters ; 
the  third,  to  become  one  of  Whitgift's  chaplains.1 

Whitgift's  views  on  the  nature  and  government  of  the 
Church  are  not  always  understood  by  modern  writers. 
The  episcopate  he  regarded  as  an  expedient  governing 
arrangement.  When  Bancroft  in  his  notorious  sermon  at 
Paul's  Cross  broached  the  theory  of  the  divine  right  of 
Bishops  2 — a  doctrine  which  came  well  from  one  who  had 
no  manifest  qualifications  for  an  eminent  spiritual  office — 
Wliitgift,  acknowledging  that  his  chaplain's  sermon  had 
done  good,  confessed  that  he  rather  wished  than  believed 
the  doctrine  of  the  jus  divinum  of  Episcopacy  to  be  true.3 
His  own  reiterated  view  was,  that  the  Church  was  not 
bound  to  this  or  that  form  of  government,  as  though  the 
absence  of  any  prescribed  outward  polity  should  jeopardise 
its  character  as  a  Church.4  He  recognised  a  certain 
equality  in  all  ministers ;  the  superiority  he  claimed  was  a 
superiority  due  to  the  necessities  of  orderly  administration.5 
As  to  the  office,  whose  occupant  is  in  the  New  Testament 
at  one  time  called  elder  (presbyter)  and  at  another  overseer 

1  Paule,   WTiitg.  (Words.),  384. 

2  The  episcopal  claim  was   enlarged    by  him   at   the    Hampton  Court 
Conference. 

3  Neal,  History,  i.  397. 

4  Defense  of  the  Answere,  etc.,  1st  ed.  p.  81. 

5  '  It  is  not  to  be  denied  but  that  ther  is  an  equalitie  of  al  ministers  of 
gods  word,  quoad  ministerium  "touching  the  ministerie"  :  for  they  haue  al 
like  power  to  preach  the  word,  to  minister  the  sacraments,  that  is  to  say, 
the  word  preached  or  the  sacraments  ministred  is  as  effectual  in  one  (in 
respect  of  ministerie)  as  it  is  in  another.      But  quoad  ordinem  et  politiam 
"touching  order  and  government"  ther  always  hath  bin    and    must    be 
degrees  and  superioritie  among  them.     For  the  churche  of  God  is  not  a 
co?fchised  congregation,   but   ruled  and  directed  as  wel   by  discipline   and 

policie  in  matters  of  regiment  as  by  the  word  of  God  in  matters  of  faith.' 

Ibid.  p.  389. 


n8  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

(bishop),  he  says  that  he  knows  c  these  names  be  confounded 
in  the  Scriptures,  but  [he]  speaks  according  to  the  manner 
and  custom  of  the  church  ever  since  the  apostles  time/  * 
He  defends  the  use  of  the  word  priest  as  a  synonym  for 
presbyter,  and  as  a  title  for  '  Ministers  of  the  Gospell ' ;  it 
is  of  ancient  usage,  he  contends,  and  has  '  the  authoritie  of 
the  highest  court  in  England'',  but  he  makes  a  most 
significant  qualification  in  adopting  the  Romish  usage  of 
designating  ministers  priests.  He  states  that  he  rejects 
the  sacerdotal  view  of  the  office  held  by  the  priest.  '  As 
for  the  name  of  Priest  as  they  [the  Papists]  take  it,  hee 
[Whitgift,  writing  in  the  third  person]  doth  likewise  con- 
demne  in  our  Ministers.'  2 

Perhaps  the  completest  insight  into  Whitgift's  conception 
of  the  episcopacy  is  to  be  gained  from  the  extraordinary  list 
of  Bancroft's  qualifications  for  that  dignity  which  he  drew 
up.  Whitgift  is  urging  his  appointment  to  the  bishopric 
of  London.  Bancroft's  conduct,  he  proceeds  to  say,  has 
never  been  subject  of  complaint ;  he  has  the  usual  academic 
degrees;  he  has  been  a  resolute  opponent  of  Popery  and  of 
all  '  sects  and  innovations ' ;  he  has  been  official  visitor  in 
two  dioceses ;  in  a  time  of  difficulty  and  danger  he  faced 
the  propagators  of  '  the  pretended  Reformation '  at  Bury 
St.  Edmunds ;  has  been  employed  by  the  Lord  Chancellor 
and  the  Archbishop  in  important  commissions ;  he  has 
served  for  twelve  years  on  Whitgift's  High  Commission ; 
he  was  '  the  first  detector  of  Martin  Mar-Prelates  Press  and 
Books,'  and  supplied  the  prosecuting  counsel's  brief;  it  was 
his  advice  that  led  to  employing  literary  hacks  to  answer 
Martin ;  he  was  a  leader  in  persecuting  Cartwright  and 
routing  out  the  factions ;  he  intercepted  Penry's  writings 
as  they  came  from  Scotland;  'his  true  Affection  and 
dutiful  heart  unto  her  Highness '  he  showed  by  answering 
the  writings  of  the  Factions  in  his  Paul's  Cross  sermon  and 
his  two  books ;  he  was  of  much  service  to  the  Archbishop 

1  Defense  of  the  Answere,  etc.,  1st  ed.  p.  383.     See  Hooker's  defence  of 
Whitgift's  position,  Eccles.  Pol.  bk.  in.  c.  ii.  §  2  (Oxf.  1850),  p.  288. 

2  Cooper's  Admonition,  45  (Arber's  ed.  36,  37).     See  THE  EPISTLE,  26. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  119 

in  the  same  business  for  nine  or  ten  years,  in  all  the  shires, 
yet  '  shewed  no  tyrannous  Disposition ' ;  during  the  fifteen 
or  sixteen  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  public  duties, 
'  seventeen  or  eighteen  of  his  Juniors  (few  or  none  of  them 
being  of  his  experience)  have  been  preferred — eleven  to 
Deaneries  and  the  rest  to  Bishopricks.  Of  which  number 
some  have  been  formerly  inclin'd  to  Faction,  and  the  most 
as  neuters  have  expected  the  issue,  that  so  they  might,  as 
things  should  fall  out,  run  with  the  time.  They  that  list 
may  enter  into  ye  consideration  hereof  particularly.'  He 
adds  that  Bishop  Aylmer  regretted  before  his  death  not 
having  commended  him  to  the  bishopric,  to  which  public 
rumour  had  already  designated  him.1 

But  though  he  entertained  so  unworthy  a  view  of  the 
necessary  moral  and  intellectual  qualifications  of  a  chief 
pastor  of  the  Church,  on  the  material  and  visible  side  he 
lacked  nothing  in  his  sense  of  the  pomp  and  dignity  which 
he  esteemed  proper  to  his  own  office.  When  he  rode  forth 
he  was  accompanied  by  a  princely  retinue  of  liveried 
servants,  mounted  gentlemen  in  gold  chains,  and  ecclesiastics 
officially  robed.2  Viewing  this  gay  and  ostentatious  caval- 
cade, far  more  befitting  a  secular  prince  than  a  successor  to 
the  fishermen  of  Galilee,  it  was  easy  to  believe  that  he 
claimed  to  be  the  '  second  person  in  the  Eealm.'  '  He  had/ 
says  the  comptroller  of  his  household,  '  a  desire  always  to 
keep  a  great  and  bountiful  house;  and  so  he  did.  .  .  . 
Upon  some  chief  festival  days  he  was  served  with  great 
solemnity,  sometime  upon  the  knee ;  as  well  for  the 
upholding  of  the  state  that  belonged  unto  his  place,  as  for 
the  better  education  and  practice  of  his  gentlemen  and 
attendants  in  point  of  service.'  3  Harington  has  preserved 
an  anecdote  relating  to  his  magnificent  and  glittering  pro- 
cession to  Parliament.  Upon  one  such  occasion  he  was 
met  by  Bishop  Aylmer,  who  was  amazed  at  '  such  an  orderly 
troop  of  Tawny  Coats.'  Aylmer  asked  him  '  how  he  could 

1  Baker  MSS.  (Camb.  Univ.  Lib.),  Mm.  1.  47  (28). 

2  See  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  B  i.  rect.  and  vers. 

3  Paule,   Whitg.  (Words.),  387. 


120  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

keep  so  many  men.'  Whitgift  replied  that  'it  was  by 
reason  he  kept  so  few  women.' 1 

In  his  creed  Whitgift  agreed  generally  with  the  reform- 
ing Nonconformists  whom  he  persecuted.  Martin,  he  says, 
must  allow  that  he  was  sound  in  the  faith.  Apart  from 
his  special  views  about  the  legends  of  the  Apocrypha, 
Satan's  love  for  women,  and  such  like  idiosyncrasies  of 
belief,  he  was  in  agreement  with  the  Puritans.  His  creed 
was  both  evangelical  and  Calvinistic.  His  views  on  the 
sacraments  were  soundly  Protestant.  Where  he  differed 
from  the  nonconforming  ministers  was  in  his  views  of 
Church  government.  This  not  only  manifested  itself  in  the 
prelatical  grades  of  ministry  which  the  Elizabethan  Church 
adopted  from  the  Roman  Catholic  system ;  but  also  in  the 
autocratic  power  of  the  episcopacy,  which  is  a  vital  feature 
of  that  system.  His  victims  charged  him  with  being  a 
more  merciless  tyrant  than  Bonner ;  and  no  doubt,  while 
adopting  the  reformed  creed,  he  at  the  same  time  claimed 
all  the  autocratic  power  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  Rome.  An 
observant  Frenchman  residing  in  England  wrote  to 
Henry  III.  an  enthusiastic  commendation  of  the  English 
system,  which  showed  'the  way  how  to  come  to  Reforma- 
tion without  endomaging  the  clergie.'  Here,  he  pointed 
out,  was  a  reformed  creed,  with  Prelates  who,  like  the 
Apostles,  were  *  soueraiue  Bishops.' 2  With  so  much  greater 
tenacity  do  men  hold  to  the  power  and  emoluments  of  office 
than  to  theological  dogmas. 

His  treatment  of  the  Nonconformists  was  vindictive  and 
cruel.  Instances  of  this  have  already  been  given  ;  Wigginton 
had  no  doubt  truth  on  his  side  when  he  complained  that  the 
Archbishop  had  treated  him  '  more  like  a  Turk  or  a  dog 
than  a  man  or  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.' 3  His  '  choler,' 
which  Paule  thought  to  be  his  only  fault,  found  an  unre- 

1  A  Brief e  View,  8. 

2  Fregeville,  Reformed  Politicke  (1589),  pp.   63-9.     See  THESES  MART. 
D  iii.  ;  JUST  CENS.  C  ii.  vers.  ;  PKOTESTATYON,  31.      Ballard  the  Jesuit, 
as  Martin  states  (EPISTLE,  23),  claimed  that  he  could  prove  the  doctrines 
of  Popery  from  Whitgift's  Injunctions  and  his  writings  against  Cartwright. 
Strype,   Whitgift,  i.  506. 

3  Vid.  ante,  84  n. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  121 

strained  field  for  its  display  when  he  presided  at  the  Court 
of  High  Commission  and  had  Nonconformists  convented 
before  him.  Their  steadfastness  and  indifference  to  the 
allurements  of  rich  benefices  and  to  positions  of  dignity 
appeared  to  be  a  reflection  upon  his  own  love  of  office  and 
his  greater  pliability  of  conscience  in  pursuing  his  way  to 
place  and  power.  Often  his  irascible  temper  would  break 
out  of  all  control,  and  he  would  rail  at  his  prisoners  like  a 
scold.  Dudley  Fenner,  a  man  whom  one  would  suppose 
least  merited  or  invited  such  scandalous  treatment,  is  first 
despised  as  a  '  boy  ' ;  as  the  archiepiscopal  choler  rises  in  the 
presence  of  his  victim's  dignified  behaviour  Fenner  becomes 
a  '  knave '  and  a  '  slanderer.' 1  When  Thomas  Settle,  a 
Suffolk  minister,  appeared  before  Whitgift  and  somewhat 
effectively  quoted  against  him  the  opinions  of  Calvin,  Beza, 
and  other  learned  writers  of  repute,  the  Primate  broke  forth 
into  a  violent  passion,  and  bespattered  Settle  with  such 
terms  as  '  ass/  '  dolt,'  '  fool ' ;  as  for  his  learned  authorities 
they  were  '  liars.'  Then  followed  this  conversation  : — 

Settle.  You  ought  not  to  rail  at  me,  being  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel. 

Archbp.  What,  dost  thou  think  it  much  to  be  called  ass  and 
dolt  1  I  have  called  many  of  thy  betters  so. 

Settle.  True  ;  but  the  question  is,  How  lawfully  you  have  done 
that  1 

Arclibp.  Thou  shalt  preach  no  more  in  my  province. 

Settle.  I  am  called  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  I  will  not  cease 
to  preach  it. 

Ardibp.  Neither  you,  nor  any  one  in  England,  shall  preach 
without  my  leave. 

The  result  of  the  intercourse  was  that  Settle  lay  a  '  close 
prisoner '  in  the  Gatehouse  for  the  next  six  years.2  He 
might  well  have  been  congratulated  had  the  angry  Primate 
sentenced  him  to  the  gallows  out  of  hand. 

Some  of  the  most  charitable  among  the  Puritans,  realising 
that  Whitgift  was,  by  his  own  repeated  confession,  of  the 
same  doctrinal  faith  as  themselves,  and  that  they  were  only 

1  Brook,  Lives,  i.  394.  2  Ibid.  ii.  46. 


122  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

divided  from  him  by  outward  ceremonies,  which,  they  con- 
tended, obscured  or  contradicted  their  common  faith,  and 
could  in  no  sense  be  regarded,  even  by  the  Archbishop,  as 
vital  to  a  man's  salvation,  ventured  to  appeal  to  him  for 
indulgence  on  the  ground  that  they  were  his  brethren.1  But 
he  was  not  to  be  approached  by  this  way.  '  What  signifies,' 
he  replied,  '  their  being  brethren ;  Anabaptists,  Arians,  and 
other  heretics  would  be  accounted  brethren ;  their  haughty 
spirits  will  not  suffer  them  to  see  their  error ;  they  deserve 
as  great  punishment  as  Papists,  because  both  conspire 
against  the  Church.  If  they  are  shut  up  in  Newgate,  it  is 
a  meet  reward  for  their  disorderly  doings.' 2  In  the  same 
spirit  he  draws  up  his  list  of  complaints  against  the  learned 
clerk  of  the  Council,  Robert  Beale,  who  had  condemned  as 
illegal  the  proceedings  of  the  High  Commission  and  Whit- 
gift's  administration  generally.3  Two  of  his  charges  against 
Beale  are  as  follows — presumably  drawn  up  as  points  in  an 
indictment  to  be  presented  before  one  of  the  ecclesiastical 
courts  : — 

13.  He   [Beale]    condemneth   (without   exception  of   cause) 
racking  of  grievous  offenders,  as  being  cruel,  barbarous,  contrary 
to  law,  and  unto  the  liberty  of  English  subjects. 

14.  He  thereupon  giveth  a  caveat  to  those  in  Marches  of  Wales, 
that  execute  torture  by  virtue  of  instructions  under  her  Majesty's 
hand,  according  to  a  statute,  to  look  unto  it,  that  their  doings 
are  well  warranted. 

No  appeal  to  Whitgift's  compassion  availed  in  any  case. 

1  This  was  the  view  adopted  by  Dean  Bridges  in  his  Defence.      '  There  is 
a  great  difference  (I  graunt)  both  in  matter  and  manner  of  these  contentions, 
and  in  the  qualities  of  the  persons  that  breed  these  vexations  ;  euen  as  much 
as  is  between  him  that  would  pluck  my  coate  from  off  my  backe,  and  so 
spoyle  me  ;  and  him  that  would  pull  my  skinne  ouer  mine  eares,  and  so 
destroy  me.     The  controversies  between  the  common  aduersaries  and  vs  are 
pro  Aris  et  focis  ;  for  matters,  and  that  capitall  matters,  of  the  substance 
and  life  of  our  Christian  religion  ;  not  trifles  as  some  mortals  would  beare 
the  people  in  hande  [mislead   them].      And  therefore  our  aduersaries  in 
matters  of  religion  are  incensed  against  vs  with  mortall,  or  rather,  immortal! 
hatred.      Whereas   the    controuersies   betwixt   vs   and   our   Brethren,    are 
matters,   or  rather  (as  they  call  them)  but  manners,    and  formes  of  the 
Churches  regiment.' — Defence,  'To  the  Christian  Reader,'  IT  3. 

2  Neal,  History  of  the  Puritans,  i.  238. 
8   Vid.  ante,  98. 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  123 

Why  should  he  be  moved  by  the  groans  of  the  tortured 
prisoner  on  the  rack,  who  had  only  to  '  bolt  out '  his  heart's 
secret  to  be  relieved  ?  Why  should  the  minister  dying  of 
fetid  prison  fever  touch  his  pity,  when  the  rebellious  man 
had  only  to  wear  the  Popish  vestments  and  declare  there 
was  nothing  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  including  the  '  Pontifical/  in  order  to  go 
free  ?  Interest  was  from  time  to  time  made  by  important 
persons  about  the  Court  in  favour  of  an  imprisoned  reformer. 
In  the  case  of  a  great  noble  or  of  one  of  the  Queen's  prin- 
cipal ministers  of  State,  the  Archbishop's  reply  was  all  that 
might  be  desired.  Language  failed  him  to  express  how 
glad  he  would  be  to  favour  the  request  of  a  person  he 
esteemed  so  highly.  But  it  was  observed  that  never  in  any 
case  did  any  alleviation  of  the  lot  of  the  persecuted  man  in 
whose  interest  the  kindness  of  the  Archbishop  was  solicited 
follow  his  smooth  words.  ' He  never  denied  any  man's 
desire,  and  yet  never  granted  it,'  says  Fuller ;  '  pleasing 
them  for  the  present  with  general  promises,  but  still  kept 
to  his  own  resolution ;  whereupon  the  nobility  in  a  little 
time,  ceased  making  farther  applications  to  him,  as  knowing 
them  to  be  ineffectual.' l  We  have  seen  that  Burleigh 
himself  was  as  helpless  as  the  rest  of  men ;  indeed  it  was 
suspected  that  Brayne  suffered  the  more  severely  for  having 
moved  the  Lord  Treasurer  to  intercede  on  his  behalf.  It 
is  still  commonly  repeated  that  he  showed  some  pity  to  Sir 
Kichard  Knightley,  who  was  convicted  of  allowing  the  second 
Marprelate  Tract  to  be  printed  at  his  house  at  Fawseley. 
The  plain  historic  truth  is  that,  highly  connected  as  he  was, 
and  one  of  the  most  eminent  and  powerful  commoners  of 
his  age,  Knightley  had  to  spend  seven  months  in  the  Fleet, 
and  was  only  released  by  the  payment  of  an  enormous  and 
ruinous  fine.  There  is  no  record  of  a  single  case  where 
motives  of  pity  or  compassion  moved  Whitgift  to  relent  in 
his  persecution  of  Nonconformists ;  or  evidence  that  he  ever 
forgave  a  man  who  once  openly  opposed  him.  The  case  of 
John  Udall,  the  learned  minister  at  Kingston-on-Thames, 
1  Fuller,  quoted  by  Neal,  Hist.  i.  347. 


124  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

moved  almost  every  person  of  consequence  in  the  nation  to 
compassion.  There  was  much  talk  of  the  Archbishop's  pity 
for  this  poor  man,  and  the  legend  is  still  repeated  by  Church 
historians.  But  when  this  divine  appeared  at  Croydon, 
laden  with  heavy  chains  so  that  he  could  not  stand  erect, 
as  though  he  were  some  dangerous  criminal  needing  this 
restraint,  the  pity  was  far  to  seek.  And  the  fact  remains 
that  in  spite  of  the  extraordinary  efforts  made  on  his  behalf, 
Udall  lingered  in  prison  till  he  died. 

Strype  seeks  to  lay  upon  the  Queen  the  blame  for 
Whitgift's  unrelenting  severity  towards  Udall.  But  the 
statement  is  unsustained  by  any  evidence,  is  contrary  to  all 
that  we  know  concerning  Whitgift,  and  to  the  actual  facts 
concerning  Udall's  harsh  treatment.  Udall's  offence  was 
that  he  had  written  very  strongly  against  the  Episcopal 
rule  and  order ;  this  by  an  outrageous  travesty  of  law  and 
justice  was  accounted  to  be,  constructively,  sedition;  and 
for  that  offence  the  capital  sentence  was  passed  upon  him. 
But  such  was  the  weight  of  influence  in  favour  of  Udall 
that  Whitgift's  servile  tools,  Chancellor  Hatton  and  Serjeant 
Puckering,  shrank  from  sending  him  to  the  gallows  merely 
for  having  spoken  against  the  Bishops.  This  is  the  whole 
ground  of  the  statement  that  Whitgift  exerted  himself  to 
obtain  the  commutation  of  the  death  sentence.  As  for  any 
anxiety  on  the  part  of  Whitgift  to  show  mercy  to  his 
ecclesiastical  opponents  we  have  only  the  unsupported 
statements  of  his  eulogists.  Wherever  any  evidence  is 
available  its  testimony  is  uniformly  to  the  contrary.  Later, 
in  1593,  his  high  connections  and  the  distinguished  persons 
who  sued  for  his  relief  and  pardon,  could  not  save  Henry 
Barrowe  from  the  Archbishop's  vengeance.  It  was  their 
refusal  to  acknowledge  his  ecclesiastical  authority  that  no 
doubt  sent  Barrowe  and  Greenwood  to  Tyburn.  And  when 
in  great  haste  and  unexpectedly,  on  a  sudden  rumour  of  his 
release,  John  Penry  was  hurried  to  his  doom,  the  first  name 
on  the  writ  for  his  execution  was  that  of  the  vindictive 
Primate. 

7.  Some  Elizabethan  Bishops. — Of  the  remaining  Bishops 


WHITGIFT'S   PRIMACY  125 

of  the  earlier  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  second  in  im- 
portance in  the  indictment  of  Martin  Marprelate  is  John 
Aylmer,  the  Bishop  of  London ;  of  whom  some  account  has 
already  been  given,1  and  much  will  be  found  in  the  text 
of  the  TRACTS.  As  already  stated,  he  was  hated  by  the 
reformers  as  a  renegade.  Although  Whitgift  curiously 
enough  was  once,  and  only  once,  under  suspicion  of  being 
a  secret  Puritan,  yet  the  reformers  never  gave  him  credit 
for  really  appreciating  the  evangelical  position.  He  had 
too  watchful  an  eye  for  the  main  chance  to  be  suspected  of 
having  ever  secretly  cherished  the  regal  and  uncompromis- 
able  principles  of  the  faith  professed  by  the  reformers. 
He  was  the  typical  man  of  policy ;  an  astute  and  calculat- 
ing opportunist,  from  the  time  when  the  '  old  Turner ' 
Perne  showed  him  how  to  dissemble,  in  the  cruel  days  of 
Mary  and  the  Spaniard.  Aylmer,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
the  years  of  his  poverty  abroad  was  a  thoroughgoing  re- 
former, whose  drastic  policy  of  reforming  the  Bishops  was 
not  exceeded  by  any  of  those  whom  he  now  persecuted. 
Moreover  he  was  a  man  more  open  to  attack  than  Whitgift 
in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  his  life.  His  avarice  became 
proverbial.2  The  story  of  the  Dyer's  Cloth  and  of  the 
Grocer's  unpaid  reckoning  were  matters  of  common  gossip. 
Then  it  was  not  denied  that  he  had  a  habit  of  using  un- 
clerical  language ;  and  while  he  persecuted  the  Noncon- 
formists for  disregarding  the  appointed  priestly  vestments 
and  the  Papistical  ceremonies,  he  was  himself  so  far  eman- 
cipated from  the  external  commandment  that  he  played 
bowls  and  made  merry  at  haymaking  on  the  Sabbath. 

Of  the  other  Bishops  whose  names  appear  in  Martin's 

1  Vid.  ante,  66. 

2  Preaching  at  Paul's  Gross,  Aylmer  declared  that  he  was  poor  and  had 
no    money,    and    that,    said    he,    'Panics   Church e   can  bear  me  witnesse.' 
Shortly  afterwards  he  was  robbed  '  of  certain  rmndred  of  pounds '  by  one  of 
his  servants  for  which  he  had  three  or  four  of  them  hanged,  although  he  got 
back  most  of  his  money.     At  the  trial  some  of  the  condemned  protested 
that  Aylmer  '  to  their  knowledge  had  much  more  money  at  usury,  and  that 
his  servants  lined  only  vpon  bribes.' — A  Dialogue  wln-rin  is  plainly  laide 
open,  sig.  C  3.     As  noted  elsewhere  he  died  very  rich  ;  but  this  did  not 
prevent  him  from  commonly  referring  to  his  'poor  estate  and  great  charges.' 
See  THE  EPISTLE,  50. 


126  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

pages  sufficient  is  stated  elsewhere.  They  are  not  a  dis- 
tinguished body  of  men,  taken  as  a  whole ;  some  of  them 
were  scandalously  unfit  for  the  Episcopal  office.  Jewel,  the 
ablest  man  in  the  early  appointments  of  Elizabeth,  died  in 
1571.  Within  the  communion  of  the  Church  the  two 
ablest  men  never  reached  the  Episcopal  bench.  William 
Eulke,  the  Master  of  Pembroke,  died  in  1589.  The  yet 
greater  name,  Richard  Hooker,  sometime  Master  of  the 
Temple,  died  the  incumbent  of  a  country  parish.  Most  of 
the  ministers  of  marked  ability  and  of  conspicuous  learning 
suffered  in  the  ranks  of  Nonconformity.  The  Church  never 
commanded  the  service  of  men  of  the  calibre  of  the  great 
statesmen  and  soldiers  and  still  greater  writers,  who  made 
the  reign  so  illustrious  in  the  annals  of  our  country.  When 
an  official  reply  was  required  to  attack  Martin  Marprelate 
the  task  was  allotted  to  Bishop  Thomas  Cooper  of  Win- 
chester. He  was  formerly  a  schoolmaster.  Under  Mary 
he  abjured  Protestantism  and  practised  medicine.  He 
remained  something  of  a  pedagogue  when  he  reached  the 
degree  of  Bishop ;  fatherly,  if  not  motherly,  in  his  manner 
of  address,  full  of  wise  saws,  and  moral  reflections,  he  was 
capable  of  replying  to  a  definite  charge  at  great  length, 
without  touching  the  point  at  issue.  But  though  there  was 
an  assumed  bishoply  moderation  and  an  appeal  to  the 
candid  mind  in  his  apologia,  he  was  as  severe  as  any  of  the 
Bishops  in  his  treatment  of  Nonconformists.  Not  less 
severe  was  his  attitude  towards  Roman  Catholics,  whom  he 
would  have  compelled  to  partake  of  the  sacrament  in  their 
parish  churches,  or  go  to  prison.  Another  characteristic 
suggestion  of  his  was  to  send  two  hundred  of  the  lustier 
sort  of  recusants  to  Flanders,  as  labour  convicts.  He 
seems  to  have  owed  his  promotion,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
Elizabeth's  appreciation  of  his  Thesaurus,  a  book  of  refer- 
ence commonly  known  as  Cooper's  Dictionary,  though 
the  Bishop  had  only  a  fractional  claim  to  its  authorship. 
'  Elizabeth/  says  Sir  John  Harington,  '  gave  Doctor  Cooper 
the  Bishoprick  of  Lincoln,  only  for  making  a  Dictionary,  or 
rather,  but  for  mending  that  which  Sir  Thomas  Eliot  had 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  127 

made  before.' *  The  basis  of  the  work,  as  Marprelate  points 
out,  is  Stephens'  Thesaurus.  '  His  Lordship  of  Winchester 
is  a  great  Clarke  ;  for  he  hath  translated  his  Dictionarie  called 
Cooper's  Dictionary  verbatim  out  of  Kobert  Stephanus  his 
Thesaurus ;  and  ilfavored,  to,  they  say.' 2  The  author  of 
A  Dialogue  says  that  it  was  the  boast  of  the  Romanists 
that  they  could  make  Bishop  Cooper  '  beleeve  the  moone  is 
made  of  greene  cheese.' 3 

8.  Imprisonment  under  Bishop  Whitgift. — In  the  month 
of  March  1 5  9  0  a  series  of  '  conferences '  were  held  between 
certain  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  and  clergy  and  the  Non- 
conformists confined  in  the  prisons  of  London.  Of  those 
appointed  to  the  Fleet  was  Dr.  Lancelot  Andrewes,  vicar 
of  St.  Giles',  and  one  of  Whitgift's  chaplains.  He  and  his 
colleague  sat  in  the  '  parlor '  of  the  gaol,  and  from  his  '  close 
prison'  below  there  was  summoned  before  them  Henry 
Barrowe,  who  had  been  some  years  in  the  Fleet.  On 
Barrowe's  appearance  Andrewes  made  this  pious  observation : 

For  close  imprisonment  you  are  most  happy.  The  solitary 
and  contemplative  life  I  hold  the  most  blessed  life.  It  is  the 
life  I  would  choose. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  Barrowe's  dignified  and  feel- 
ing reply.  The  meaning  of  close  imprisonment  was  well 
enough  known  to  Andrewes,  as  one  of  the  agents  in  carrying 
out  Whitgift's  oppressive  system  and  especially  as  a  press 
censor.  To-day  he  is  known  by  repute  as  a  saint;  one 
who  could  be  seraphically  devout  in  Greek  and  Latin.  But 
it  is  advisable  to  forget  that  Bishop  Andrewes  was  once 
Whitgift's  chaplain,  if  one  would  enjoy  the  Devotions.  The 
bloom  fades  from  the  Preces  when  we  call  to  mind  the 
above  piece  of  brutal  cynicism. 

What  the   Fleet  was  as  a  prison  we  may  see  in  the 

1  A  Brief e  View,  165.      'Licence  to  Thos.  Cooper  of  Oxford  to  print  the 
Eng.  dictionary  at  first  called  "  Bibliotheca  Eliota,"  but  now  called  "The- 
saurus utriusque  linguae  Latae  et  Britanae.'"     Rymer's  Foedera  (Hardy),  ii. 
1563,  May  12. 

2  THE  EPISTLE,  46. 

3  A  Dialogue  wherin  is  plainly  laide  ojwn,  sig.  B  3. 


128  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

defence  of  Harris,  the  warden,  in  which  he  seeks  to  rebut 
the  serious  charges  alleged  against  him  by  the  prisoners, 
not  many  years  later  than  the  conference  referred  to,  and 
while  the  state  of  the  prison  remained  unchanged ;  and 
especially  may  we  appreciate  the  facts  in  the  vivid  summary 
of  Dr.  Jessop  which  introduced  the  printed  edition  of 
Harris's  statement.1  Here  we  see  the  Warden  holding  a 
hereditary  office,  deriving  an  income  from  fleecing  the 
prisoners  or  their  compassionate  friends.  Very  pitiful  is 
the  case  of  insolvent  debtors,  and  Nonconformists  mulcted 
in  ruinous  and  impossible  fines  were  insolvent  debtors,  im- 
mured in  the  Beggars'  Ward.  They  had  not  the  legal  or 
recognised  claim  of  a  pauper  or  a  criminal ;  they  were 
prisoners  as  long  as  their  creditors  chose ;  therefore,  in 
many  cases,  for  life.  Unless  their  friends  could  pay  for 
their  keep  and  satisfy  the  Warden's  various  extortions,  then 
there  was  nothing  for  them  but  to  die  of  starvation ;  of 
cold,  and  want,  and  unspeakable  squalor ;  '  dying  literally 
like  dogs  in  their  corner,  mouldy  straw  beneath  them,  and 
foul  rags  spread  over  their  shivering  emaciated  forms.' 
The  condition  of  a  prisoner  in  the  Common  Ward  '  was 
only  a  shade  better.'  Friends  were  allowed  to  contribute 
to  his  comfort.  He  could  buy  his  own  bedding ;  but  he 
had  to  pay  a  fine  to  the  Warden  if  another  prisoner  was 
not  to  share  his  bed.  Public  women  went  in  and  out  of 
the  prison  without  restriction.  Gambling  was  continually 
going  on,  and  along  with  it  brawling  and  fighting,  often 
resulting  in  '  death  by  misadventure ' ;  no  legal  inquiry 
being  made  as  to  the  cause  of  such  misadventures.  The 
depraved  prisoners  robbed  one  another,  and  combined 
against  those  who  shunned  their  company  and  refused  to 
pay  '  black  mail.'  The  place  often  resounded  with  the 
howling  of  drunken  prostitutes  and  their  associates.  The 
filth  and  vermin  were  such  as  to-day  would  seem  incredible. 
How  hard  the  lot  of  those  whose  punishment  was  the  most 

1  The  (Economy  of  the  Fleete  or  An  Apologeticall  Answeare  of  Alexander 
Harris  (late  Warden  there)  unto  XIX  Articles  sett  forth  against  him  by  the 
Prisoners.  Ed.  from  the  original  MS.  by  Dr.  Augustus  Jessop.  (Camd. 
Soc.  1879.) 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  129 

severe — the  close  prisoners,  who  had  neither  light  nor  air 
nor  exercise, — the  imagination  must  try  to  picture.  Often, 
as  in  the  case  of  Whitgift's  ecclesiastical  victims,  eminent 
ministers  such  as  Udall  and  Wigginton  being  among  their 
number,  they  were  laden  with  heavy  chains.  Even  a 
pattern  saint,  like  Lancelot  Andrewes,  might  be  forgiven 
for  not  desiring  such  a  horrid  fate. 

Many,  as  we  should  expect,  died  of  the  harsh  and  foul 
conditions  of  prison  life.  Parsons,  the  Jesuit,  in  his  re- 
port states  that  'some  Catholics  died  in  Newgate  by  the 
stench  of  that  prison,  and  others  miserably  tormented  with 
the  stinking  smells  of  the  place/  *  The  prison  diseases  were 
all  putrid  fevers.  So  fearfully  insanitary  were  some  prisons 
that  it  is  recorded  that,  at  the  Oxford  assizes  in  1577  three 
hundred  people,  among  them,  the  High  Sheriff,  died  of  '  gaol 
distemper/  infected,  says  the  annalist,  '  by  the  stench  of  the 
prisoners'  brought  before  the  court.2  A  consideration  of  these 
grave  facts  enables  us  more  fully  to  appreciate  the  petitions 
issuing  from  the  prisoners  in  their  misery,  conscious  that  they 
were  the  victims  of  a  lawless  ecclesiastical  oppression.3 

Well,  here  our  brethren  lye — How  long,  Lord,  holy  and 
true,  Thou  knowest ! — in  dungeons,  in  hunger,  in  cold,  and  in 
nakedness,  with  all  outward  distresses ;  for  these  bloody  men 
will  neither  allow  meat,  drink,  fire,  lodging,  nor  suffer  any 
whose  hearts  the  Lord  would  stir  up  for  their  relief  to  have  any 
access  unto  them,  purposing  belike  to  imprison  them  unto  death, 
as  they  have  done  seventeen  or  eighteen  others  in  the  same 
noisome  gaols  within  these  six  years. 

Nor  can  we  fail  to  feel  the  pathos  of  their  longing  to  be 
set  free,  even  by  way  of  Tyburn. 

1  Strype,  Annals,  in.  i.  p.  600. 

2  The  State  of  the  Prisons  of  Eng.  and  Wales,  John  Howard  (1777),  pp. 
17,   18.      See  also  case  at  Taunton,   where  Judge,  Serjeant,  Sheriffs,  and 
some   hundreds  besides,  died  from   infection   brought   by   prisoners    from 
Ivelchester  Gaol.     Ibid.  p.  18. 

3  We  have  a  painful  account  of  the  London  prisons,  nearly  two  centuries 
later,   notwithstanding  some  small  changes  for  the  better  that  had  been 
effected,  in  The  State  of  the  Gaols  in  London,   Westminster,  and  the  Boro1  of 
Southwark,  by  Wm.   Smith,  M.D.,  1771.     The  turnkeys,  says  Dr.   Smith, 
took  a  glass  of  spirits  in  the  morning  when  they  opened  the  doors.     It 
turned  them  sick  (p.  10). 

K 


130  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Bishop  Bonner,  Story,  Weston  dealt  not  after  this  sort ;  for 
those  whom  they  committed  close  they  brought  them  in  short 
space  openly  unto  Smithfield  to  end  their  misery,  and  to  begin 
their  never-ending  joy ;  whereas  Bishop  Elmar,  Doctor  Stanhope, 
and  Master  Justice  Young,  with  the  rest  of  that  persecuting  and 
blood-thirsty  faculty,  will  do  neither  of  these ;  no  Fellon,  no 
Murderer,  no  Traytor  in  the  Land  are  thus  dealt  with.1 

They  press  for  trial  and  sentence,  for  the  fact  is  that  many 
of  the  prisoners  at  this  time  had  never  been  brought  to 
trial.  In  the  lists  of  prisoners  compiled  by  the  Noncon- 
formists during  these  years,  we  have  not  infrequently  the 
note,  that  a  prisoner  has  not  been  formally  charged  or 
examined.  And  the  same  fact  comes  out  in  some  of  the 
official  lists.  For  example  : 

John  Sparowe,  Citizen  and  Fishmonger  of  London,  of  the 
age  of  sixty  yeres. 

In  the  White  Lyon  and  Clink  4  yeres.  Committed  by  the 
Privy  Council  for  delivering  a  Petition  to  the  Queenes  Majesty 
concerninge  diverse  sectaries :  never  examined  since  his  Im- 
prisonment. 

Katharen  Unwin,  widow,  late  of  Christchurche,  35  years. 

In  prison  a  month  for  being  with  Penry's  wife  and  others 
when  she  delivered  a  Petition  to  the  Lord  Keeper.  Had  not 
been  examined.2 

In  the  '  lamentable  petition  delivered  to  ye  Queenes 
Maiestye  the  13.  of  March  1588' — about  the  time  when 
Martin  Marprelate  was  writing  his  first  tract — written  it 
has  been  shrewdly  suspected  by  Henry  Barrowe,  at  that 
time  in  the  Fleet,  we  have  a  description  of  the  imprison- 
ment suffered  by  the  Bishops'  victims.  They  complain  of 
'  barringe  and  locking  them  vp  close  prisoners  in  the  most 
vnholsome  and  vyle  prisones,  and  their  deteyninge  them, 
without  bringing  them  to  their  answeres,  vntyll  the  Lord 
by  death  put  an  ende  to  their  myseries.  .  .  .  Some  they 
haue  Cast  into  the  Little  Ease,8  some  they  haue  put  into 

1  More  Work  for  the  Dean,  by  T.  Wall,  1681,  p.  15  f. 

2  Harl.  MSS.,  7042,  115  f. 

3  '  A  fourth  kind  of  torture  was  a  cell  called  "  little  ease."     It  was  of  so 
small  dimensions  and  so  constructed  that  the  prisoner  could  neither  stand, 


WHITGIFT'S  PRIMACY  131 

the  My  11  Causinge  them  to  be  beaten  with  Cudgels  in  their 
prysones.' l 

9.  The  London  Prisons  in  1588. — We  meet  with  the 
names  of  most  of  the  prisons  in  London — including  South- 
wark  and  Westminster — in  the  Marprelate  Tracts  and  the 
literature  to  which  they  gave  rise.  North  of  the  Thames, 
commencing  at  the  west,  we  have — 

(1)  The   GATEHOUSE   at  Westminster.     This  was  built 
over  two  gateways  into  the  precincts  of  the  Abbey,  and  was 
the  property  of   the   Dean   and   Chapter  of   Westminster. 
It  was   much   used   by   Whitgift   in   connection   with   the 
ecclesiastical  courts.     Prisoners   convened   before   the   Star 
Chamber  at  Westminster  or  the  High  Commission  at  Lam- 
beth Palace  were  conveniently  imprisoned  at  the  Gatehouse. 

(2)  BRIDEWELL,  originally  the  site  of  a  castle,  was  divided 
from  Blackfriars  by  the  Fleet  Ditch,  a  tidal  estuary  to  the 
stream  of  that  name.     Here  Henry  VIII.  built  the  palace 
of  Bridewell,  which  his  son  Edward  gave  to  the  city ;  first 
as  a  poorhouse,  but  later,  in  the  time  of  John  Stowe — his 
Survey  of  London  was  published  in  1589 — it  was  used  as  a 
house  of  correction,  where    all  'strumpets,   night-walkers, 
pickpockets,  vagrant  and  idle  persons,  also  incorrigible  and 
disobedient  servants,'  were  lodged.     Persons  of  good  con- 
dition bitterly  complained  of  being  sent  to  Bridewell,  seeing 
it  was  '  a  prison  ordeyned  for  persons  of  most  vyle  conwrsa- 
con  and  base  condition.'     Many  of  the  Nonconformists  were 
confined  here,  where  they  suffered  very  greatly  if  condemned 
to  close  imprisonment  in  an  evil  inner  cell  called  '  Little 
Ease.' 2     Bridewell  is  still  a  prison,  and  can  be  used  in 
certain  special  cases.     The  Chamberlain  of  London  in  his 
jurisdiction  over  city  apprentices    can   commit  an   unruly 
apprentice  to  Bridewell  for  a  period  not  exceeding   three 
months ;  usually  for  seven  or  fourteen  days.3 

walk,  sit,  or  lie  at  length.  He  was  compelled  to  draw  himself  upon  a 
squatting  posture  and  so  remained  several  days.' — Lingard,  Hist,  of  Eng. 
(1825),  viii.  522.  1  Harl.  MSS.,  6848,  7.  Arber's  Sketch,  36. 

2  See  THE  EPISTLE,  28. 

3  See  Report  of  Royal  Commission  1893  on  the  City  of  London,  its  Govern- 
ment, etc.,  pp.  108,  109. 


1 32  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

(3)  The  FLEET  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  prisons 
of  London,  its  records  going  back  to  the  reign  of  Richard  I. 
It  was  especially  used  for  those  who  spoke  '  anything  in 
contempt  of  the   Courts   of  Chancery  and  Common  Pleas.' 
At  the  date  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts  it  was  mostly  used  for 
the  detention  of  persons  convicted  by  the  Star  Chamber, 
who,  being  brought  from  Westminster  by  water,  entered  the 
creek  and  were  admitted  into  the  prison  by  the  Water-gate. 
A  moat  ran  entirely  round  the  building,  into  which  the  waters 
of  the  Thames  flowed  at  each  tide.     After  being  lodged  some 
months    at    the    Gatehouse,   John   Greenwood   and   Henry 
Barrowe  spent  here  the  long  years  of  their  imprisonment. 
On  the  site  of  the  old  prison  the  London  Congregationalists 
have  erected  their  church  house  as  a  memorial  to  the  early 
sufferers  in  the  Fleet. 

(4)  NEWGATE  prison,  a  very  ancient  establishment,  was 
called  after  the  gate  opened  in  the  city  wall  to  give  access 
to  Smithfield,  then  a  place  of  recreation,  where  public  sports 
were  held.     As  far  back  as  the  year  1218  we  read  of  a 
royal  injunction  to  the  Sheriff  of  London  to  repair  the  gaol 
of  Newgate.      The  gate  and  the  prison  stood  until  the  Great 
Fire.     In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  it   had  a  specially   evil 
reputation  on  account  of  the  number  of  prisoners  who  died 
of  fetid  prison-fever  in  its  cells.     The  majority  of  the  deaths 
noted  in  the  Nonconformist  lists  occurred  at  Newgate. 

(5)  The    COMPTER,    pronounced    and    frequently    spelt 
Counter,  in  the  Poultry,  stood  behind  the  now  demolished 
St.  Mildred's  Church.     It  was  entered  by  a  door  from  the 
Poultry.     The  prison  was  pulled  down  in  the  beginning  of 
last  century,  and  on  part  of  its  site  there  was  erected  the 
Congregational   place   of  worship    known    as    the    Poultry 
Chapel,  since  removed  to  Holborn  Viaduct  and  known  as 
the  City  Temple. 

(6)  The  WOOD  STREET  COMPTER  was  built  by  the  Mayor 
and  citizens  of  London  to  replace  an  earlier  Compter  in 
Bread  Street,  hard  by.     Apparently  they  could  not  discharge 
Richard  Husbands,  the  keeper  of  the  Bread  Street  Compter, 
although  his  conduct  was  highly  scandalous.      He  brutally 


WHITGIFTS  PRIMACY  133 

tyrannized  over  his  prisoners,  and  was  known  to  use  his 
house  as  a  refuge  for  the  worst  characters.  The  city  fathers 
solved  the  difficulty  by  building  a  new  Compter  in  Wood 
Street  and  transferring  to  it  the  miserable  victims  of 
Husbands'  cruelty. 

The  Compters  were  originally  Sheriffs'  courts,  with '  houses 
of  detention '  or  lock-ups  attached  to  them.  They  were  both 
taken  down  in  1785  under  an  Act  of  Parliament,  which 
enabled  the  Corporation  to  build  in  their  stead  the  Gilt- 
spur  Street  Compter,  subsequently  known  as  Giltspur  Street 
Prison. 

(7)  The  TOWER  was  a  castle  as  well  as  a  prison.     At  this 
period,  and  in  regard  to  persons  sentenced  by  the  ecclesi- 
astical courts,  it  was  chiefly  used  when  prisoners  were  con- 
demned to  torture.     Hodgkins,  Simms,  and  Thomlyn,  the 
printers  of  the  later  Tracts,  and  Newman  the  distributer, 
were  removed  to  the  Tower  to  be  put  on  the  rack. 

(8)  In  the  Bishop  of  London's  palace  attached  to  the  old 
Cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  there  was  the  notorious  COAL  HOLE — 
a  foul  den  from  which  some  of  the  Marian  martyrs  dated  their 
secret  letters.     At  Lambeth  Palace  there  was  the  Lollards' 
Tower. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  were  places  of  detention 
attached  to  certain  halls,  used  presumably,  though  our 
information  on  the  point  is  deficient,  as  mere  temporary 
lock-ups  pending  the  removal  of  an  offender  to  one  of  the 
recognised  prisons. 

South  of  the  Thames  there  were  a  number  of  prisons 
freely  used  by  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  courts. 

(9)  The  CLINK  was  the  most  famous  of  the  South wark 
prisons  at  this   time.      It   lay  within  the   '  liberty  of  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester.'      Clink  Street  ran  from  Deadman 
Place  to  St.  Mary  Overy's,  on  the  Bank  Side.      Originally  it 
was  a  house  of  correction  for  transgressing  keepers  of  the 
Stews,  in  the  days  when  those  obnoxious  places  were  '  under 
the  direction  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,'  whose  palace 
was  near  by.1     In  the  year  1755  we  read  that  the  episcopal 

1  See  below,  p.  259  (ft). 


134  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

house  was  '  disused  and  very  ruinous,  and  the  prison  of  little 
or  no  concern/ 

(10)  QUEEN'S  BENCH  PRISON. 

(11)  The  WHITE  LION. 

(12)  The  MARSHALSEA. 

(13)  The  SOUTH  WARE  COMPTER. 

These  prisons  lay  near  together  on  the  east  side  of  the 
old  road  leading  south  from  London  Bridge,  then  called  Long 
Southwark,  and  now  the  Borough  High  Street,  near  to  St. 
George's  Church.  Nearest  to  the  Church  on  the  north  side 
was  the  White  Lion,  an  old  inn  bearing  that  sign,  converted 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  into  a  prison.  The  Queen's  Bench 
prison  adjoined  the  White  Lion,  and  was  a  very  ancient 
structure.  It  continued  in  use  to  a  very  late  date.  A 
little  farther  north  was  the  old  Marshalsea  prison.  The 
Compter  was  within  the  grounds  of  Marshalsea  House.1 

1  See,  for  the  prisons  of  London,  W.  Maitland,  Hist,  of  London,  1739  ; 
"VV.  Newton,  London  in  the  Olden  Time  ;  Stowe's  Survey  of  London  ;  Alex. 
Pulling,  A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Laws,  Customs,  etc.,  of  London  (1842), 
and  especially  the  maps  of  London  by  Agas  and  by  Ogilby  and  Morgan. 
We  have  to  specially  thank  the  courteous  City  Librarian,  Mr.  Edward  M. 
Borrajo,  whose  minute  acquaintance  with  all  that  pertains  to  the  history  and 
antiquities  of  London  is  well  known,  for  his  kind  help  on  many  occasions 
when  searching  among  the  treasures  of  the  Guildhall  Library. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    MARPRELATE    PUBLICATIONS 

Section  I. — The  Controversy  which  called  forth  the 
Marprelate  Tracts 

1.  The  ' Learned  Discourse  of  Ecclesiastical  Government.' — In 
the  year  1584  there  appeared  a  small  pamphlet  bearing  the 
title  A  Brief e  and  Plaine  Declaration,  etc.,  but  soon  popularly 
known,  from  its  running  headline,  as  The  Learned  Discourse} 

1  A  Brief  e  and  plaine  declaration  concerning  the  desires  of  all  those  faith- 
full  Ministers  that  have  and  do  seekefor  tJie  Discipline  and  reformation  of  the 
Church  of  Englande.  Which  may  serve  for  a  just  Apologie  against  the  false 
accusations  and  slaunders  of  their  Adversaries.  At  London.  Printed  by 
Robert  W aide-grave.  1584.  Small  8vo,  vi  +  148  pp.  Roman  type.  With- 
out headline  or  catch-word  or  marginal  notes,  the  page  of  print  measures 
4§  x  2£  inches.  [B.M.  702,  a.  38.]  It  has  on  the  title-page  Waldegrave 
the  Puritan  printer's  device,  a  swan,  with  the  motto  '  God  is  my  defender.' 
The  running  headline  is  '  A  Learned  Discourse  of  Ecclesiasticall  Government. ' 
It  may  indicate  the  neglect  of  serious  study  into  the  origin  of  the  Marprelate 
Tracts  to  point  out  that  this  small  pamphlet,  which  gave  rise  to  the  par- 
ticular controversy  that  enlisted  Marprelate's  pen,  is  confused  by  all  modern 
writers  who  have  touched  upon  the  matter  with  Walter  Travers's  Ecclesiasticae 
Disciplinae  .  .  .  Explicatio,  the  English  translation  of  which  bore  the  title, 
A  full  and  plaine  declaration  of  Ecclesiasticall  Discipline  (vid.  ante.  §  7,  p.  51). 
The  error  commenced  with  John  Petheram,  in  the  notes  appended  to  his 
edition  of  THE  EPISTLE,  published  in  1 843.  He  gives  the  short  title  correctly, 
but  forthwith  proceeds  to  describe  A  full  and  plaine  declar.,  oblivious  of  the 
bantering  point  made  by  the  official  reply,  that  the  Brief c  and  Plaine  Declar. 
was  also  entitled  '  A  Learned  Discourse,  etc. '  Dr.  Henry  Martyn  Dexter 
does  not  include  A  Brief  e  and  Plaine  Declaration  in  his  elaborate  Bibliography  ; 
but,  following  Petheram,  refers  the  reader  back  from  Bridges'  official  reply 
(No.  121  in  his  list)  to  Travers's  work  (No.  59).  The  careful  compilation  of 
the  Rev.  T.  G.  Crippen  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Cong.  Hist.  Socy.  (vol.  i. 
pp.  54,  55)  follows  the  same  error  ;  as  also  does  Mr.  Sidney  Lee  (D.N.B.,  art. 
on  Dr.  John  Bridges),  who  describes  the  Defence  as  a  reply  to  '  Thomas  Cart- 
wright's  Discourse  of  Ecclesiastical  Government  or  a  brief  e  and  plaine  declara- 
tion, 1574  (a  translation  from  the  Latin  of  Walter  Travers).'  The  titles  are 

135 


136  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Though  of  small  dimensions,  it  apparently  supplied  an  exist- 
ing need,  and  attained  immediately  an  importance  out  of 
proportion  to  its  size.  Possibly  its  small  size  may  have 
helped  its  currency,  and  it  had  the  additional  advantages  of 
being  clearly  printed  in  good  type,  and  of  being  written 
lucidly  and  with  point ;  its  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  was 
direct  and  ingenuous,  and  its  grave  references  to  the 
tendency  of  Popery  appealed  to  men  who  knew  only  too 
well  the  atrocities  of  Popery  under  Mary  and  its  disloyal 
intrigue  under  Elizabeth. 

The  preface  is  concerned  first,  with  a  defence  of  the 
reformers,  who  were  being  taunted  with  their  youth ;  and 
secondly,  with  a  vindication  of  the  rights  of  the  lay  people 
to  take  part  in  ecclesiastical  matters.  The  brief  essay  then 
opens  simply  with  the  statement,  that  the  Church  is  the 
'  house  of  God,'  and  naturally  the  affairs  of  the  house  must 
be  directed  by  the  Householder,  whose  instructions  are 
given  in  His  Word.  There  we  learn  of  the  household 
officers ;  some  filling  special  offices  and  of  temporary 
appointment ;  others  connected  with  the  permanent  life 
and  moral  culture  of  the  people  of  God.  The  members  of 
the  household  are  specially  warned  against  following  the 
example  of  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles,  as  the  sons  of  Zebedee 
were  in  danger  of  doing.  '  Did  not  the  Master  for  ever 
impeach  such  prelacy,  when  He  put  little  children  in  the 
midst,  and  when  He  washed  the  disciples'  feet  ? '  And  was 
there  not  the  ominous  example  of  one  Diotrephes,  whose  sin 
was  that  '  he  was  Philoproteuon,  one  that  desired  primacie 
in  the  Church'?  (p.  29).  The  evils  of  non-residence  and 
pluralities  are  exposed  and  condemned  (p.  39).  The  pomp 
and  pride  and  the  pre-eminence  of  the  old  Popish  Bishops 
had  been  denounced  by  those  now  defending  Episcopacy, 

mixed  up  in  this  sentence,  but  the  reference  is  to  the  '  Full  and  plaine ' 
declaration  of  1574,  and  not  to  the  ( Brief e  and  plaine'  Declaration  of  1584. 
The  popular  title  of  the  work,  '  The  Learned  Discourse  of  Ecclesiastical 
Government/  out  of  which  Bridges  extracts  a  little  harmless  fun,  on  the 
assumption  that  it  was  the  author's  estimate  of  his  own  work,  was  really  due 
to  the  printer,  who  upon  his  own  authority  inserted  it  as  a  running  head- 
line. See  A  Chronological  Account  of  Eminent  Persons  (MS.),  Dr.  Williams' 
Lib.  ii.  431  (4). 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      137 

who  then  quoted  the  words  of  the  New  Testament,  such  as, 
you  have  'but  one  Master,  which  is  Christ,  and  all  you  are 
brethren.  '  If  these  places  proue  that  the  Pope  ought  not 
to  be  aboue  other  ministers  of  the  Church,  why  doe  they 
not  likewise  proue  that  the  Ministers  are  equal  among 
themselves  ?'  (pp.  79,  80).  The  prevalence  of  an  'ignorant 
ministry'  is  bitterly  deplored.  'We  have  hitherto  taken 
vpon  us  without  warraunt  of  Gods  worde,  to  allow  such  for 
Pastours  of  mens  soules,  whom  no  carefull  owner  of  Cattell 
woulde  make  ouerseer  of  his  sheepes  bodyes '  (p.  44). 

The  writer  enters  into  the  age-long  conflict  between 
sestheticism  and  edification.  '  Scrines  of  rode-lofts,  Organe 
lofts,  Idoll  cages,  otherwise  called  Chauntrie  Chappells,  and 
high  pewes  between  them :  which  although  they  do  mani- 
festly hinder  edification,  yet  may  they  not  be  remooued  in 
many  places,  for  defacing  the  beauty  of  the  materiall  houses  ' 
(p.  65).  Music  was  being  exalted  to  the  disparagement  of 
a  'godly  and  learned  sermon.'  In  the  case  of  cathedral 
churches  you  may  see  '  great  numbers  that  tarrye  while  the 
seruice  is  songe,  but  depart  so  soone  as  the  Sermon  begin- 
neth.  While  the  Organes  pipe,  some  are  drawen  with  the 
sweetnes  of  musike  to  come  vp ;  but  while  the  preacher 
cryeth  out  continue  beneath,  and  in  laughter  or  brawling  be 
louder  than  he  oftentimes'  (pp.  67,  68). 

The  c  gouernment  of  the  Church '  should  be  by  the 
people  acting  through  elders  whom  they  freely  elect ;  who, 
when  they  arrive  at  a  decision,  '  propound  it  to  the  whole 
multitude  that  it  may  be  confirmed  by  their  consent' 
(p.  86).  The  celebrated  text  Die  ecclesiae  'tel  the  congre- 
gation/ that  is,  the  Church,  he  would  not  have  '  so  largely 
taken  as  in  other  places  for  the  whole  multitude,'  but  restrict 
to  'the  chosen  assembly  of  elders'  (p.  87).  Discipline 
should  be  retained  in  the  Church,  but  he  detests  the 
'  Popish  tyrannie '  which  excommunicates  '  for  euery  trifle, 
yea  for  such  as  are  no  sinnes '  (p.  92).  As  regards  the 
election  of  church  officers, '  it  is  agreeable  to  reason  that  hee 
that  should  doe  any  seruice  in  the  name  of  all,  should  be 
chosen  and  approved  by  the  consent  of  all'  (p.  107).  He 


138  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

objects  to  the  civil  magistrate  exercising  power  in  the 
Church,  and  demands  by  what  authority  it  was  ever  trans- 
ferred from  the  Church  to  the  magistrate  (p.  119). 

Ministers,  he  contends,  are  only  such  when  they  are  in 
office ;  theirs  is  ' an  office  in  act  and  esse'  ' not  a  Potentiall 
abilitye  in  the  cloudes ' ;  they  should  only  be  ordained  to 
particular  posts.  '  If  Byshoppes,  as  they  be  nowe,  were 
consecrated  after  the  same  manner  to  seeke  their  Bishop- 
rickes  where  they  could  find  them,  it  were  no  greater 
absurdity  then  it  is  to  ordayne  Pastoures,  and  let  them 
proll  where  they  can  for  their  benefices'  (p.  126). 

In  regard  to  the  relation  of  the  Prince  to  the  Church 
— a  very  difficult  subject  for  any  save  an  Erastian,  when 
Elizabeth  was  the  Prince — according  to  the  writer's  teaching, 
the  Prince  is  under  'no  subjection  unto  men,'  but  'to  God 
and  his  worde'  (p.  142). 

From  the  reputation  gained  by  this  little  tract,  as  well 
as  from  the  official  attention  paid  to  it,  it  is  clear  that  it 
achieved  a  considerable  circulation.  Nor  is  there,  in  the 
circumstance,  anything  to  be  wondered  at.  Its  point  and 
perspicuity  are  obvious.  Its  argument  could  be  readily 
grasped  by  the  common  folk ;  and  its  democratic  temper, 
though  by  no  means  over  emphasised,  fell  in  with  a  grow- 
ing spirit  of  the  time  ;  for  the  '  popularity '  which  Whitgift 
and  the  official  writers  so  much  abhorred  and  feared  was 
the  natural  product  of  their  own  oppressive  policy.  Tyrants 
have  forced  men  into  a  noble  comprehension  of  their  native 
and  inalienable  rights.  And  so  it  was  that  the  lawless 
system  of  Whitgift  growing  and  developing  in  the  hands  of 
Bancroft  and  of  Laud,  brought  about  at  last  the  virile 
reaction  which  destroyed  the  personal  and  irresponsible 
government  of  Tudor  and  Stuart,  and  sent  Laud  and  his 
master  to  the  block. 

The  Brief e  and  Plaine  Declaration  was  published  anony- 
mously. Apparently  the  secret  of  its  authorship  was  well 
guarded.  The  later  speculation  which  assigned  it  to  Dudley 
Fenner  arose  in  the  first  place,  from  the  circumstance  that  he 
took  a  foremost  part  in  its  literary  defence ;  and  also  from 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      139 

the  fact  that,  wielding  a  capable  pen,  and  having  a  resolute 
spirit,  it  was  the  habit  at  this  period  to  ascribe  to  Fenner 
all  unsigned  attacks  upon  the  episcopal  system,  if  they 
possessed  a  certain  degree  of  merit.  But  the  weight  of 
tradition  ascribes  the  pamphlet  to  William  Fulke,  Master 
of  Pembroke  College.  He  was  Margaret  Professor  of 
Divinity,  and  had  filled  the  office  of  Vice-Chancellor.  His 
chief  reputation  was  gained  in  his  controversies  with  the 
Popish  writers  of  the  time,  particularly  with  the  Jesuit 
Campion,  and  by  his  notable  defence  of  the  English  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  against  the  Rhemists.  Editors  of  Fulke 
include  A  Brief t  and  Plaine  Declaration  in  their  catalogues 
of  his  works.  If  Fulke  be  the  author,  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand why  it  was  issued  anonymously ;  it  is  less  easy  to 
understand  the  statement  of  the  Parker  Society's  editor 
concerning  his  defence  of  the  English  Bible,  that  no  writer 
'  devoted  more  vigorous  and  untiring  energy  in  supporting  the 
bulwarks  of  the  Church  of  England.'  The  otherwise  com- 
petent editor  could  not  have  read  the  seventh  item  in  his 
list  of  Fulke's  works. 

2.  *  The  Defence  of  the  Government  Established.' — When 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities  realised  the  wide  circulation 
and  influence  of  The  Learned  Discourse  they  appointed  Dr. 
John  Bridges,  Dean  of  Sarum,  to  answer  it  from  the  popu- 
lar pulpit  at  Paul's  Cross ;  which  he  did  during  the  follow- 
ing year.  Then  being  greatly  importuned  to  publish  his 
discourse,  and  having  specifically  promised  in  his  sermon,  to 
answer  the  Learned  Discourse  '  at  large,'  he  spent  the  next 
two  years,  with  an  industry  which  would  have  been  com- 
mendable had  it  not  been  futile,  in  producing  A  Defence  of 
the  Government  Established  in  the  Church  of  Englande  for 
Ecclesiasticall  Matters,  a  portentous  quarto  of  over  fourteen 
hundred  pages.1  Martin,  when  he  comes  upon  the  scene, 

1  The  full  title  of  Bridges'  work  is  A  Defence  of  the  Government  Established 
in  the  Church  of  Englandefor  Ecclesiasticall  Matters.  Contayning  an  answere 
vnto  a  Treatise  called  'The  Learned  Discourse  of  Eccl.  Gouernment,'  other- 
wise entituled,  '  A  briefe  and  plaine  declaration  concerning  the  desires  of  all 
the  faithfull  Ministers  that  haue,  and  do  seeke  for  the  discipline  and  reforma- 
tion of  the  Church  of  Englande. '  Comprehending  likewise  an  aunswere  to  the 
arguments  in  a  Treatise  named  'The  Judgement  of  a  most  Reverend  and 


140  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

at  once  seizes  on  the  contrast  between  the  diminutive  tract 
of  the  reformer  and  the  ponderous  size  of  the  Dean's 

Learned  man  from  beyond  the  seas,  etc. '  Aunsvvering  also  to  the  argumentes 
of  Caluine,  Beza,  and  Danceus,  with  other  our  Reuerend  learned  Bretheren, 
besides  Ccenalis  and  Bodinus,  both  for  the  regiment  of  women,  and  in  defence 
of  her  Majestie,  and  all  other  Christian  Princes  supreme  Gouernment  in  Ecclesi- 
asticall  causes,  Against  The  Tetrarchie  that  our  Brethren  would  erect  in  euery 
particular  congregation,  of  Doctors,  Pastors,  Gouernors,  and  Deacons,  with 
their  seuerall  and  ioynt  authoritie  in  Elections,  Excommunications,  Synodall 
Constitutions,  and  other  Ecdesiasticall  matters.  Aunsvvcred  by  lohn  Bridges, 
Deane  of  Sarum.  Come  and  see,  Joh.  i.  36.  Take  it  vp  and  Read.  Aug. 
lib.  conf.  8,  ca.  12.  At  London,  Printed  by  lohn  VVindet,  for  Thomas 
Chard,  1587.  The  second  treatise  mentioned  in  the  title  is  by  Th.  Beza, 
and  was  published  in  a  translation  by  John  Field,  dr.  1580.  John  Bridges, 
who  was  educated  at  Pembroke  Hall,  Cambridge  (B.A.  1556,  M.A.  1560), 
besides  some  earlier  translations,  wrote,  in  1573,  on  The  Supremacie  of 
Christian  Princes,  a  subject  then  not  only  of  living  interest,  but  also  one 
which  promised  promotion  to  advocates  of  the  Elizabethan  position.  He  had 
early  succeeded  in  securing  some  of  the  good  things  of  the  Church.  Bishop 
Home  collated  him  in  1565  to  the  third  prebendal  stall  in  Winchester 
Cathedral,  besides  bestowing  upon  him  '  three  rich  parsonages, '  the  rectories  of 
Cheriton  and  Crowley  in  Hants  and  Brightwell  in  Berks.  In  1571  he  was 
one  of  the  Whitsuntide  preachers  at  Paul's  Cross,  his  sermon  being  an  evan- 
gelical discourse  on  Jno.  iii.  16,  which  he  enlarged  and  published.  His 
treatise  on  the  '  Supremacie '  was  followed  by  a  Canterbury  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  in  1575,  and  in  1577  by  the  Deanery  of  Sarum.  When  Aylmer 
shrank  from  the  further  perils  of  authorship,  he  suggested  the  name  of 
Bridges  as  one  of  the  company  who  should  be  requested  to  reply  to  Campion's 
Ten  Reasons.  His  name  was  also  included  the  following  year  (1582)  in  the 
Commission  ordered  to  confer  with  the  Papists.  It  was  supposed  that  he 
had  still  higher  ambitions  in  writing  the  Defence,  having  before  his  eyes  the 
shining  example  of  Whitgift.  In  A  Dialogue  ivherin  is  Plainly  laide  open, 
f  Puritane  '  says,  '  At  the  beginning  of  the  last  parliament  there  were  Bishops 
to  be  stalled,  and  his  grace  [Archbishop  Whitgift]  had  promised  him  [Dean 
Bridges]  very  confidently  that  hee  would  not  onely  speake  for  him,  [but] 
also  assure  him  of  a  Bishoppricke.  Uppon  whiche  the  aspiring  wretchc  did 
only  relie."  But  going  to  Richmond,  Bridges  met  'Master  Thornbie,  Master 
of  the  Sauoy,'  returning  thence,  who  informed  him  that  he  also  had  been 
promised  a  certain  bishopric,  which,  however,  he  found  had  been  otherwise 
bestowed.  '  With  that  the  Doctor  was  in  his  madde  moode  and  saide,  hath 
he  [Whitgift]  serued  me  so  ?  whie  then  I  wil  say,  and  may  speake  it  truely, 
there  is  no  faith  in  a  Bishop.  Haue  I  wrote  in  their  defence,  and  have 
gotten  the  ignomie  (sic),  shame,  and  reproache  of  it  by  publike  writinge,  and 
no  we  to  be  thus  vildely  dealte  with  :  I  will  tell  you,  Master  Thornby,  I  do 
protest  and  alwaies  will  affirm  it :  That  it  is  better  to  haue  one  inche  of 
pollicie  [craft]  then  all  the  Divinitie  in  the  worlde'  (sig.  D  1,  rect.).  It  was 
not  the  quantity  but  the  quality  of  the  Dean's  divinity  which  was  at  fault, 
and  Marprelate  was  probably  right  in  his  report  that  Whitgift  was  unfavour- 
able to  printing  the  Defence  (EPISTLE,  2).  Bridges'  position  is  very  frankly 
evangelical  as  regards  his  creed.  He  deals  very  tenderly  with  his  reforming 
'bretheren.'  The  Dialogue  includes  him  in  the  list  of  'notable  turncoats'  ; 
he  graduated  bachelor  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  and  must  then  have  professed 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      141 

reply.1  '  The  compleat  worke  (very  briefly  comprehended  in  a 
portable  booke,  if  your  horse  be  not  too  weake,  of  an  hundred 
threescore  and  twelve  sheets,  of  good  Demie  paper)  is  a  con- 
futation of  The  learned  discourse  of  Ecclesiasticall  government.' 
Bridges  undertakes  to  prove  that  the  external  polity  of  the 
Church  as  established  is  supported  by  antiquity  and  by  the 
Apostolic  epistles ;  that  the  service  book  contains  nothing 
contrary  to  the  Scriptures. 

He  endeavours  to  disarm  the  opposition  of  the  reformers 
at  the  onset.  In  his  Preface  he  writes :  'It  is  no  small 
griefe  to  me  (I  protest)  that  on  this  occasion,  I  was  thus 
drawen  into  these  questions,  with  those  whom  otherwise  in 
Christe,  I  humbly  acknowledge  to  be  our  deare  Brethren.' 
He  would  gladlier  have  united  with  them  against  the 
Papists,  'the  publike  aduersaries  of  Gods  truth.'  His 
statement  of  doctrine  shows  him  to  occupy  a  position  almost 
directly  opposite  to  that  of  the  modern  Anglican.  He 
would  relax  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  and  the 
liturgical  offices,  in  which  minister  and  people  co-operate  as 
'  one  party ' ;  it  is  only  in  preaching  that  the  minister 
stands,  for  the  time,  in  the  place  of  God  to  deliver  His 
message.  '  The  ministring  of  the  sacraments,'  he  holds,  '  is 
a  common  action :  therefore  by  this  rule  of  our  Brethfren] 
euery  man  and  woman  that  is  present  at  the  ministring  of 
the  sacraments,  and  assenteth  to  them,  and  partaketh  with 

himself  a  Romanist.  Nevertheless,  in  the  Defence  his  sympathy  with  the 
Church  of  Rome  is  seen  only  in  his  superstitious  belief  in  the  working  of 
modern  miracles  within  that  Church  and  his  child-like  confidence  in  old 
traditions  (Defence,  68  ;  EPISTLE,  12).  He  was  clearly  not  the  type  of  man 
to  carry  out  the  policy  of  Elizabeth  and  Whitgift,  and  had  to  wait  until  the 
accession  of  James  to  ascend  the  episcopal  bench.  His  friends  were  not  sure 
that  he  had  not  made  a  bad  bargain  when  he  accepted  the  indifferent  see  of 
Oxford  as  an  exchange  for  his  rich  rectories,  and  other  benefices.  He  died 
at  a  very  advanced  age  in  1618,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  March 
Baldon,  Oxon  (Gent.  Mag.  1794). 

1  THE  EPITOME,  sig.  B  i.  Mr.  F.  0.  White  is  wrong  in  supposing  that 
Bridges'  Defence  was  a  reply  to  'a  bulky  volume  of  547  pages.'  The  Parte 
of  a  Register  to  which  he  refers  was  a  volume  of  tracts,  most  of  which  had 
been  previously  published  separately,  gathered  into  a  single  volume  at  a 
much  later  date.  It  reprints  the  '  Letter  of  a  Reverend  Man  across  the  Sea, ' 
to  which  Bridges  devoted  one  of  the  sixteen  chapters  of  his  book  ;  but  does 
not  include  the  little  pamphlet,  A  Brief e  and  Plaine  Declaration  ('The 
Learned  Discourse '),  to  which  the  Defence  was  a  formal  reply. 


142  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

the  Ministers,  may  be  sayd  also  to  be  the  ministers  of 
them/1  All  might  pray,  all  by  common  consent  repeat 
the  same  prayer,  follow  the  one  uttered  prayer  of  the 
minister,  and  thus  make  it  their  own.  In  praying  minister 
and  people  together  represent  but  '  one  party,'  and  '  not  the 
minister  a  third  person,  as  intercessor  or  mediator  betwixt 
God  and  them.'2  And  continuing  the  argument  on  the 
same  page,  he  says — 

But  it  is  nothing  alike  in  prophecying  or  preaching.  For 
though  all  the  people  neuer  so  much  consent  unto  the  preaching 
or  prophecying,  yet  can  it  not  be  said  to  be  their  action,  as  prayer 
might.  For  in  prophecying  or  preaching  in  the  relation  of  these 
two  parties,  the  Prophecier  or  Preacher  respecteth  God,  and  all 
the  people  are  the  hearers  of  God,  speaking  unto  them  by  him, 
Qui  loquitur  loquatur  eloquia  Dei. 

The  works  of  Calvin  and  of  Beza,  his  successor  at  Geneva, 
are  continually  referred  to  in  terms  of  warm  appreciation ; 
and  the  strongly  Protestant  annotations  to  the  Genevan 
version  of  the  Bible  are  frequently  drawn  upon  to  confirm 
the  Dean's  argument.  All  this  explains  why  the  Defence 
failed  to  commend  its  author  to  the  good  graces  of  the 
Archbishop,  when  the  higher  offices  in  the  Church  fell 
vacant,  and  a  man  was  needed  to  carry  out  his  rigorous 
policy. 

As  a  polemic  against  the  reforming  party  the  Defence 
was  equally  ineffectual.  It  cannot  be  credited  that  any 
one,  save  the  author  and  the  printer's  reader,  ever  read 
it  through,  unless  it  were  Martin  Marprelate.  Bridges 
moves  along  in  his  easy  shuffle,  pausing  to  tell  a  story,  or 
to  give  a  long  meandering  quotation,  adding  parenthetical 
remarks,  interpolating  qualifications,  underlining  half  of  his 
pages  to  give  an  artificial  emphasis  to  his  prosy  inconse- 
quential platitudes ;  and  this  for  fourteen  hundred  large 
quarto  pages.  Small  wonder  that  Chard  the  printer  had 
to  get  a  subsidy  from  the  government  to  save  him  from 
bankruptcy.  There  was  on  the  face  of  it  every  likelihood 

1  The  Defence,  bk.  9,  p.  680.  2  Ibid.  p.  681. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      143 

of  truth  in  Martin's  banter,  that  the  unsaleable  stock  was 
used  for  such  menial  purposes  as  the  stopping  of  mustard 
pots.  Whatever  inherent  dialectical  value  Bridges'  state- 
ment of  the  official  episcopal  position  may  have  had  was 
lost  in  his  long  wearisome  periods  and  his  mazy  style.1 
Even  the  literary  hacks  hired  by  Whitglft  to  defend 
Bridges  against  his  agile  critic  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
wade  through  his  book.  They  taunt  Martin  with  his  vulgar 
'  So  ho  ! '  as  though  he  assumed  the  offensive  position  of  a 
teamster  and  used  the  venerable  Bishops  as  his  dray- 
horses,  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  Martin  was  satirically 
copying  the  clumsy  attempts  of  Bridges  at  being 
facetious.2 

Given  ample  space  and  verge  enough  he  can  tell  his 
story  to  illustrate  the  point  he  desires  to  enforce,  in  a 
pleasant,  homely,  fireside  fashion.  As  when  he  would 
maintain  that  '  our  neighbours  experience '  is  '  no  necessary 
paterne  to  vs '  and  gives  the  JEsopian  fable  of  the  ass 
laden  with  sponges.3  But  it  is  needless  to  say  that  neither 
the  Defence  nor  his  innocuous  rhyming  list  of  Christ's  titles 
gives  the  slightest  countenance  to  the  suggestion  that 
Bridges  wrote  the  vigorous  old  play  Gammer  Gurtoris  Needle, 
with  its  swinging  drinking-song  beginning — 

Backe  and  syde  go  bare,  go  bare, 

Both  foote  and  hande  go  colde, 

But  bellye,  God  send  tliee  good  ale  ynoughe, 

Whether  it  be  newe  or  olde.4 

Further  references  to  the  contents  of  the  Defence  will  be 
found  in  Martin's  second  Tract. 

3.  Immediate  Replies  to  the  '  Defence.' — The  length  of 
the  Defence,  as  well  as  its  discursiveness,  made  it  difficult 
for  the  reforming  party,  who  could  only  print  with  great 
difficulty  and  peril  on  their  secret  presses,  to  reply  to  its 
assertions  or  to  supply  the  syllogisms  which  the  Dean 
desired  to  see  in  proof  of  the  contention  of  the  Non- 

1  See  EPISTLE,  12.  2  See  Defence,  76. 

3  See  EPITOME,  G  1.  4  See  EPISTLE,  10. 


144  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

conformists.  But  a  beginning  was  made  during  the  same 
year  in  A  Defence  Of  the  godlie  Ministers  against  the 
slaunders  of  D.  Bridges,  written  by  Dudley  Fenner.1  It  is 
chiefly  concerned  in  replying  to  Bridges'  criticisms  on  the 
Preface  of  the  Learned  Discourse.  For  though  Bridges 
refers  to  his  '  dear  bretheren '  in  terms  of  respect  and 
amity,  he  is  defending  the  cruel  oppression  of  Whitgift  and 
his  High  Commission.  In  mellifluous  accents  he  accuses 
them  of  lawlessness  and  disloyalty.  Fenner's  tract  for  the 
most  part  is  a  plain,  sober,  scriptural  statement,  not 
differing  greatly  from  the  examples  already  cited  in  these 
introductory  pages.  In  one  or  two  places  his  indignation 
at  the  lawless  persecution  from  which  he  and  his  friends 
were  suffering,  and  the  ungenerous  misconstruction  sys- 
tematically put  upon  their  simple  Christian  purposes, 
quickens  the  pace  of  his  sentences,  and  the  rebuke  of  his 
heartless  opponents  warms  into  a  measured  and  dignified 
passion. 

The  year  following  a  second  reply  appeared,  bearing  the 
title,  A  Defence  of  the  Ecdesiasticall  Discipline  ordayned  of 
God  to  be  vsed  in  his  Church.  Against  a  Replie  of  Maister 
Bridges  to  a  briefe  and  plain  Declaration  of  it  which  was 
printed  in  15 8 '4>  Which  replie  he  termeth,  A  Defence  of 
the  gouernement  established  in  the  Church  of  Englande,  for 
Ecdesiasticall  matters.  1588?  It  is  a  strong,  well- written 
presentation  of  the  reformer's  opposition  to  the  quasi- 
Roman  elements  in  the  polity  and  administration  of  the 
established  Church,  and  of  the  divine  character — by  which 
the  writer  implies  the  scripturally-warranted  character — of 
that  simpler  and  more  democratic  order  which  went  under 
the  title  of  Discipline. 

Section  II. — Martin  Marprelate 

1.  Annus  Mirabilis,  1588. — The  later  chroniclers  and 

1  It  appeared  anonymously  ;  but  on  being  reprinted  by  Waldegrave  in 
A  Parte  of  a  Register,  Fenner's  name  was  added  as  the  author. 

2  Small  4to,   228  pp.  Rom.  type.     It  is  without  divisions,  chapters  or 
marginal  analysis. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      145 

historians  of  the  great  century  looked  back  fondly  to  this 
as  the  illustrious  year  in  English  story.  Despite  some 
adverse  influences,  the  nation  was  recovering  itself  from  the 
exhaustion  of  the  largely  foreign  rule  of  Philip  and  Mary. 
The  fruits  of  the  Renaissance  had  been  to  a  degree  arrested 
in  England ;  partly  because  the  energy  of  that  great  in- 
tellectual upheaval,  which  expressed  itself  in  art  and  poetry 
in  the  southern  half  of  Europe,  among  the  northern  nations 
had  manifested  itself  in  the  quickening  of  religious  thought, 
and  in  those  social  ideals  which  spoke  to  the  hearts  and 
imaginations  of  the  people  from  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  now 
rapidly  and  freshly  translated  into  the  vernacular  tongues. 
And  in  England,  blessed  and  cursed  by  the  virile  and 
headstrong  race  of  Tudor  sovereigns,  the  expression  of  this 
ethical  and  spiritual  quickening  had  been  unnaturally 
restricted  and  crushed.  The  vitality  of  the  religious 
ordinances  under  Elizabeth  lay  not  in  the  showy  but  empty 
formalisms  borrowed  from  the  cult  of  Rome,  but  rather 
in  those  elements  of  innovation  which  with  a  niggardly 
caution  were  allowed  to  the  people — the  discarding  of 
Latin  in  the  liturgy  of  the  Church,  the  use  of  the  Scriptures 
in  the  very  idiom  of  the  people,  and  the  participation  of 
the  laity  in  the  audible  acts  of  public  worship.  Had  the 
unrestricted  rights  of  discussion  and  of  preaching  been 
granted,  the  kindred  causes  of  civil  and  religious  liberty 
would  have  advanced  by  a  mighty  stride,  future  internecine 
struggles  would  have  been  avoided,  and  the  material  and 
intellectual  development  of  the  people  would  have  proceeded 
apace.  It  has  been  the  misfortune  of  England  that  its 
movements  of  religious  reform  have  been,  in  a  measure, 
reactions ;  the  reaction  from  the  corrupt  life  of  priests  and 
people  under  Mary  gave  to  the  incipient  programme  of  the 
Elizabethan  religious  reformers  an  ascetic  savour ;  the  re- 
action from  the  immoderate  restrictions  of  the  Commonwealth 
Puritans  made  possible  the  debaucheries  of  the  restoration 
under  Charles  II. 

Yet,  despite  all  restricting  forces,  the  nation,  during  the 
thirty  years  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  was  rapidly  realising 

L 


146  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

itself:  public  credit  was  restored,  the  fleet  was  recreated, 
the  national  defences  put  in  order,  and,  with  the  exclusion 
of  the  foreign  prince  and  the  foreign  priest,  a  growing 
patriotism,  a  pride  of  race,  and  a  love  of  the  birth-land 
were  welding  the  nation  into  unity.  There  was  but  a 
small  remnant  of  the  Papists,  whose  religious  consistency 
compelled  them  to  be,  first  of  all,  the  loyal  subjects,  not  of 
Elizabeth,  but  of  Pope  Sixtus ;  and  next,  to  be  the  spies 
and  agents  of  Philip,  as  the  champion  of  Popery.  The 
destruction  of  the  Armada  was  the  triumph  of  English 
nationalism.1 

Outside  the  ecclesiastical  domain — a  very  wide  and 
inclusive  domain  in  those  days — there  was  enjoyed  a  large 
freedom.  The  new  spirit  found  vent  for  itself  in  foreign 
adventures  and  in  growing  trade  enterprise.  While  the 
Armada  was  a-building  Drake  ravaged  the  coast  of  the 
Peninsula,  '  singeing  of  the  beard  of  the  king  of  Spain ' ; 
and  in  this  great  year  '  Master  Cavendish  came  home  from 
his  voyage  round  the  globe/  Already  this  quickening  of 
the  national  spirit  was  expressing  itself  in  a  literature 
which  was  destined  to  make  the  age  illustrious  through  all 
time.  The  previous  year  Marlowe,  in  writing  Tamburlaine, 
had  determined  the  essential  form  of  the  Elizabethan  drama 
and  heralded  its  greatness.  Shakespeare  was  in  London, 
and  the  year  following  produced  his  first  original  play, 
Loves  Labour's  Lost.  Holinshed  had  gathered  his  Chronicles 
and  John  Stowe  his  antiquarian  Annals.  A  gift  of  style 
and  of  melody  fell  from  heaven  upon  that  generation  of 
Englishmen.  The  echoes  of  their  great  speech  and  their 
spontaneous  song  have  resounded  down  all  our  subsequent 
centuries. 

Side  by  side  with  this  resurgent  national  life,  this  hearty 

1  '  The  union  and  fidelity  of  subjects  is  quite  contrary  to  what  is  con- 
ceived abroad.  They  need  not  fear  the  face  of  a  stranger.  Last  year's 
attempt  [the  attack  of  the  Spanish  Armada]  was  made  so  odious  that  even 
Catholics  would  have  resisted  it,  looking  for  little  favour  from  the  merciless 
Spaniard.' — Draft  of  a  letter  by  Thomas  Barnes,  a  Jesuit  spy  in  England, 
to  Father  Owen  at  Brussels.  Transcribed  in  the  Calendar  S.  P.  Dom. 
Add.  1580-1625.  The  original  (vol.  xxxi.  14)  is  in  an  execrable  hand- 
writing. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      147 

pride  in  being  God's  Englishmen ; — conscious  as  these  men 
were  of  the  broadening  horizon  of  the  human  intellect,  their 
earth  enlarged  by  the  vision  of  new  continents,  and  the 
heavens  above  them  filled  with  a  new  and  awful  majesty, 
through  the  teachings  of  a  revolutionised  astronomy,  while 
their  moral  and  spiritual  faculties  were  thrilled  with  new 
life  from  the  commanding  utterances  of  the  Christian  gospel 
speaking  directly  from  the  authentic  records  of  the  life  of 
the  Divine  Teacher ; — side  by  side  with  all  this,  a  narrow 
intolerant  priest  was  filling  the  foul  prisons  of  London  with 
godly  men  and  women,  ruining  their  lives,  reducing  their 
families  to  begging  their  bread,  turning  the  great  patrimony 
of  English  liberty  to  a  mockery.  To  read  the  Bible  with 
one's  friends  in  the  sanctity  of  one's  home  was  made  a 
crime ;  to  hold  an  opinion  unfavourable  to  the  choleric  little 
tyrant's  book  and  appreciative  of  his  opponent's  argument 
was  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  Clink  or  the  Gatehouse ;  to 
reject  the  intolerable  tyranny  of  the  oath  ex  officio,  to  ask 
to  be  judged  by  the  law  and  custom  of  the  land,  to  demand 
that  accusations  be  substantiated  by  witnesses  examined  in 
a  legal  manner  before  a  constitutional  tribunal — to  refuse, 
that  is,  to  accuse  oneself  or  to  betray  the  secret  affairs  of 
those  dearer  than  oneself ;  this  was  sedition,  treason,  an 
offensive  singularity,  the  mark  of  an  envious  spirit  whose 
real  objective  was  the  rich  benefices  of  the  Bishops  and 
Prelates !  Exasperated  by  the  intractable  consciences  he 
had  convented  before  him,  which  were  indeed  a  silent  con- 
demnation of  his  own  more  politic  course  in  life,  his  sallow 
visage  mantling  with  rage,  the  Archbishop  would  rail  against 
his  victims.  '  Clap  them  into  close  prison/  he  would  cry, 
as  he  dismissed  them  with  evil  words.  The  spy  and  the 
inforiwfwere  everywhere.  The  printing-press  was  watched 
by  a  sl^pless  censorship.  How,  we  may  well  ask,  could 
these  conflicting  and  antagonistic  forces  coexist  ?  —  this 
expanding  wealth  of  life,  on  the  one  hand,  riotous  in  the 
affluence  of  its  newly-found  prerogatives,  inspired  by  a  large 
utterance,  and  tuning  its  lyre  to  welcome  the  advent  of  a  new 
and  grander  age ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  this  reactionary 


1 48  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

recrudescence  of  priestly  intolerance,  this  repression  of 
thought  on  the  greatest  of  human  interests ;  flouting  the 
dearly-bought  liberties  of  the  constitution  with  the  sophistry 
and  chicanery  of  musty  canon  law  ?  On  board  the 
Armada  there  was  sent  to  England  a  special  mission  con- 
sisting of  officers  of  the  Holy  Inquisition.  After  the 
subjugation  of  the  heretical  nation  by  the  sword,  the  priest 
was  to  crown  the  victory.  In  order  to  carry  out  the 
decisions  of  the  court  to  be  instituted  on  these  shores,  the 
Inquisitors  had  presciently  stowed  among  the  cargo  a  supply 
of  instruments  of  torture.  But  both  Mission  and  thumb- 
screw were  a  superfluity.  The  Inquisition,  as  Burleigh  and 
Knowles  and  Morrice  had  declared,  was  here  already. 
Lawless  oppression  abounded.  Already  in  the  Marches  the 
Archbishop  had  used  the  rack ;  it  was  at  his  disposal  in  the 
Tower,  and  was  destined  not  to  lie  idle.  If  Burleigh  and 
Walsingham,  if  Howard  and  Drake,  were  fighting  the 
Spanish-Catholic  oppression  by  astute  diplomacy  in  the 
European  courts  and  daring  naval  enterprise  on  the  high 
seas,  not  less  was  it  to  attack  a  merciless  '  Spanish '  inqui- 
sition, already  rife  within  our  borders,  that  there  appeared 
suddenly,  in  the  illustrious  year  1588,  an  antagonist  to 
Whitgift  and  the  Bishops  calling  himself  MARTIN  MAR- 
PRELATE. 

2.  The  Seven  '  Martins.' — The  first  of  the  tracts  bearing 
the  pseudonym  Martin  Marprelate  appeared  about  October 
1588;  in  a  very  short  time  it  got  into  circulation.  It  was 
an  interesting  novelty  in  English  literature.  The  resources 
of  the  language  were  turned,  by  one  who  could  use  them 
with  uncommon  skill,  to  a  fresh  use.  He  appears  in  the 
midst  of  the  strenuous  and  all  too  solemn  ecclesiastical 
controversy  as  a  satirist,  dexterous  in  word-fence,  well 
furnished  with  wit,  and  with  a  notable  gift  of  humorous 
irony.  He  struck  a  new  and  individual  note,  and  at  once 
captured  the  ears  of  men.  But  if  the  literary  form  of  the 
Martinist  tracts  was  novel,  the  attitude  assumed  by  the 
satirists  towards  the  hierarchy  was  more  than  novel,  it  was 
startling.  A  traditional  deference  was  shown  to  a  Bishop ; 


THE  MARPRELAtE  PUBLICATIONS      149 

even  to  the  most  contemptible  and  unworthy.  His  office 
was  surrounded  with  an  air  of  superstition.  He  was 
shielded  from  much  criticism  by  reason  of  the  sacred  func- 
tions he  exercised  ;  he  was  allowed  by  courtesy,  prerogatives, 
and  granted  exonerations,  beyond  all  other  subjects  of  the 
Queen ;  second,  indeed,  only  to  herself.  And  Martin  drew 
the  amused  attention  of  all  classes  of  society  by  treating 
the  Bishops,  even  the  chief  of  them,  with  jocular  familiarity. 
He  banged  them  noisily  with  his  distended  bladders,  prodded 
them  in  the  ribs,  winked  at  them,  told  scandalous  tales 
about  them,  warned  them,  gravely  expostulated  with  them ; 
or  he  let  the  fire  of  his  indignation  blaze  out,  perhaps  at 
the  remembrance  of  high-minded,  devout  men,  of  blameless 
life,  slowly  dying  in  dark,  mephitic  dungeons,  and  in  the 
glow  of  his  just  anger  calling  them  harsh  names;  yet 
suddenly  reverting  to  his  quips  and  quiddities.  Never, 
since  priests  had  inspired  awe  in  the  minds  of  men  by 
claiming  the  possession  of  supernatural  powers  had  Bishops 
been  so  treated.  Wise  men  saw,  moreover,  that  the  satiric 
humour  was  but  an  advertisement ;  the  clanging  of  the  bell 
to  call  attention  to  the  sermon ;  that  the  real  purpose  of  the 
tract  was  most  serious,  most  grave,  most  undeniably  religious 
— as  afterwards  the  writer  himself  confessed  to  be  the  case. 
The  first  tract,  whose  long  title  was  soon  whittled  down 
to  the  brief  name  THE  EPISTLE,  was  followed  at  the  end  of 
November  by  a  second,  briefly  called  THE  EPITOME.  Then 
came  with  the  first  days  of  January  a  defence  of  the 
Bishops  called  An  Admonition,  and  signed  T.  C.  But  it 
came  not  from  Thomas  Cartwright,  the  erstwhile  writer  of 
Admonitions,  but  from  Thomas  Cooper,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester. Nothing  could  have  served  better  the  purpose  of 
Martin.  He  forthwith  replied  with  a  tract  bearing  for  its 
title  the  London  street  cry,  HAY  ANY  WORKE  FOR  COOPER. 
While  this  was  being  printed  a  small  broadside  came  from 
the  secret  press  bearing  the  somewhat  cryptic  title,  CERTAIN 
MINERAL  AND  METAPHYSICAL  SCHOOLPOINTS,  soon  shortened 
into  MINERALLS.  All  these  were  in  black-letter.  But  soon 
a  new  series  began  in  Roman  type.  Of  these  the  first  was 


150  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

called  THESES  MARTINIANAE,  often  referred  to  as  MARTIN 
JUNIOR  ;  and  the  next,  published  within  a  few  days,  THE 
JUST  CENSURE  AND  REPROOFE,  whose  short  title  was  MARTIN 
SENIOR  ;  Martin  Junior  and  Senior  being  supposed  to  be 
sons  of  the  original  Martin  Marprelate. 

The  sensation  caused  by  these  daring  and  popular 
pamphlets  was  very  great.  Speculation  began  to  be  rife 
as  to  their  author,  or  authors ;  many  wild  guesses  were 
made;  every  distinguished  writer  on  the  side  of  church 
reform  being  accused  in  his  turn.  The  censorship  of  the 
press,  and  the  search  for  secret  presses,  were  severe  and 
unrelenting.  Fresh  '  Injunctions '  were  issued,  and  the 
Privy  Council  showed  its  grave  concern.  Spies  and  pur- 
suivants were  multiplied  ;  they  mingled  in  every  crowd  ;  in- 
sinuated themselves  into  surreptitious  prophesyings ;  loitered 
about  suspected  booksellers  in  Fleet  Street  and  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard.  At  the  same  time  the  prohibition  of  the 
Tracts  rather  quickened  their  circulation  than  otherwise; 
they  were  read  at  Court,  they  were  read  at  the  universities, 
they  were  secretly  sold  at  markets  and  fairs ;  the  appear- 
ance of  a  fresh  '  Martin '  was  an  event  of  the  greatest  public 
interest.  '  Ye  book  was  willinglye  redde/  so  the  Jesuit 
agent  reported  to  his  superior  at  Brussels.1 

Suddenly  towards  the  close  of  August  it  was  known 
that  the  press  was  seized  on  the  outskirts  of  Manchester, 
and  that  three  men,  engaged  in  printing  a  new  tract,  to  be 
entitled  '  More  work  for  the  Cooper/  were  made  prisoners 
and  sent  up  to  London.  It  was  only  with  difficulty 
and  by  the  use  of  torture  that  a  little  information  was 
gained  as  to  the  probable  authors  and  the  methods  of  pro- 
ducing the  six  '  Martins '  that  were  in  circulation.  To 
show  that  their  resources  were  not  exhausted,  and  as  a 
further  defiant  challenge  to  their  persecutors,  the  Martinists 
issued  THE  PROTESTATYON.  But  there  were  signs  of  distress 
especially  in  the  opening  pages  of  this  tract,  not  in  the 
style  and  vivacity  of  the  writing,  but  in  the  poor  way  in 
which  it  had  been  printed.  It  was  the  last  of  the  series. 

1  S.  P.  Dom.  Add.  1580-1625,  vol.  xxxi.  No.  14,  dated  June  23,  1589. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      151 

Then  followed  the  flood  of  Anti-Martinist  tracts  and  ballads 
and  broadsides,  which,  however  scurrilous,  and  even  indecent 
their  contents,  found  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  episcopal 
cum  privilegio.  Some  of  the  least  worthy  of  them  were  by 
writers  commissioned  to  their  task  by  the  Archbishop's 
chaplain,  Bancroft.  The  fact  was  reckoned  among  his 
virtues,  as  we  have  seen,  when  it  was  proposed  to  make 
him  a  Bishop.  He  may  be  regarded  as  the  real  founder  of 
the  '  yellow  press.' 

3.  The  Story  of  the  Production  of  the  Tracts. — We  are 
now  able,  by  piecing  together  records  of  examinations  and 
scraps  of  evidence  which  have  survived,  to  form  a  fairly 
complete  account  of  this  daring  literary  adventure. 

(1)  EGBERT  WALDEGRAVE,  THE  PURITAN  PRINTER. — To  a 
large  extent  liberty  is  the  product  of  the  printing-press. 
The  printed  word  has  given  currency  to  the  great  thoughts 
of  men.  The  press  has  made  the  quickening,  inspiring, 
democratic  speech  of  the  New  Testament  common  property. 
Gutenberg  and  his  successors,  with  their  movable  types 
and  manifold  impressions,  are  the  real  torch -bearers  of 
civilisation.  The  first  instinct  of  the  tyrant  is  to  gag  the 
platform  and  the  press,  and  of  the  two  the  press  is  the 
more  difficult  to  suppress. 

Robert  Waldegrave — commonly  pronounced  Walgrave 
— was  early  known  as  the  Puritan  Printer.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  yeoman  hailing  from  Blackley  in  Worcestershire. 
On  June  24th,  1568,  he  was  apprenticed  for  eight  years  to 
William  Griffith.  In  the  year  1578  works  bearing  his 
imprint  begin  to  appear.1  He  was  chiefly  engaged  in 
printing  religious  works,  and  when  the  censorship  was 
rigorously  enforced,  entered  upon  the  perilous  task  of 
secretly  printing  the  anti-episcopal  tracts  of  the  reformers. 
How  greatly  he  suffered  in  this  cause  may  be  read  at 
length  in  the  last  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts  printed  by  him 
— HAY  ANY  WoRKE.2  In  the  year  1588  Waldegrave 

1  '  Lycenced  on  to  [R.  W.]  A  booke  intituled  A  Castell  for  the  Soule,' 
17  June  1578.     Arber's  Transcripts,  ii.  328. 

2  Op.  tit.  39-43.     See  also  TIIE  EPISTLE,  23,  24. 


152  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

had  a  printing-house  at  the  sign  of  the  Crane  in  Paul's 
Churchyard.  On  the  night  of  April  1 6th,  in  that  year,  the 
pursuivants  appeared  at  his  doors ;  and  not  gaining  an 
entrance  in  that  way,  they  broke  down  the  main  walls  of 
the  house  and  seized  his  press  and  letters  and  also  a 
number  of  copies  of  the  dialogue  commonly  known  as 
Diotrephes  written  by  the  well-known  Puritan  minister 
of  Kingston  on  Thames,  John  Udall,  which  Waldegrave  had 
been  secretly  engaged  in  printing.1  In  the  tumult  which 
ensued  the  persecuted  printer  managed  to  escape  with  a 
box  of  types  '  under  his  cloke.'  John  Wolfe,  the  beadle  of 
the  Stationers'  Company,  posted  forthwith  to  Whitgift  at 
Croydon  to  inform  '  my  Lordes  grace '  of  the  capture  and 
to  get  his  instructions.2 

There  dwelt  at  this  time  in  Aldermanbury  near  the 
Guildhall,  London,  a  widow,  Mrs.  Crane,  a  great  friend  and 
benefactor  of  the  reformers.  Her  husband,  Nicholas  Crane, 
had  been  the  minister  of  Roehampton  in  Surrey,  and  as  far 
back  as  1569  had  been  in  difficulties  with  the  Bishops. 
He  was  a  man  of  considerable  repute  among  the  reforming 
party,  and  like  so  many  of  his  class  had  been  educated  at 
Cambridge.  In  the  list  of  '  sundry  faythfull  Christians  Im- 
prisoned by  the  ArchBishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop 
of  London  for  the  Ghospell  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'  written 
about  May  1588,  there  is  the  following  entry : — 

1  See  note  on  Diotrephes  in  THE  EPISTLE,  6. 

2  The   particulars  are  given  in  Herbert's  Ames'   Typ.  Antiq.   ii.    1145  ; 
and  may  be  conveniently  consulted  in  Dr.  Arber's  ed.  of  Diotrephes,  Introd. 
xii.  xiii.      The  Stationers'  warden  and  his  assistants  seized  '  A  presse  with  two 
paire  of  cases  with  certaine  Pica  Romane  and  Pica    Italian  letters,  with 
divers  books  entituled  :   The  State  of  the  Church  of  England  laid  open,  etc. 
[i.e.  Diotrephes].'     Nearly  a  month  later,  on  May  13th,  the  Court  of  the 
Stationers'  Company  resolve  that  the  press  and  letters  be  destroyed.     "Wolfe 
receives  xiid.   for  the  job.      Contemporary  references    to  the   defacing   of 
Waldegrave's  type  must  be  taken  as  allusions  to  the  events  of  April  16th. 
For  instance,  in  the  Dialogue  wherin  is  laide  open  we  read  that  '  his  goods 
were  destroied  about  Ester  was  a  twelve  moneth'  (sig.  B.  4).     This  would 
be  'about  April  7th.'     Matthew  Sutcliffe  writing  years  after  the  events  he 
narrates,  with  access  to  all  the  official  documents,  alludes  definitely  to  May 
13th,   on  the  authority  of  the  Stationers'  records  ;    but  the  contemporary 
writers,    especially  those  writing  in  the  interests  of  the  reformers,   knew 
nothing  of  the  private  resolutions  of  the  Stationers'  Court  of  Assistants.      In 
addition  to  the  above  references  see  Dr.  Arber's  Transcript,  i.  528. 


THE  MARPRELATE   PUBLICATIONS      153 

Nicholas  Crane  a  man  of  66.  yeares  havinge  a  wyef  and 
Chyldren  ffirst  imprysoned  by  Loudon  ffor  hearing  vt  supra,  after 
endighted  and  dyed  of  the  Infection  of  the  pry  son  in  Newgate.1 

Henry  Barrowe,  himself  a  lawyer  and  able  to  realise  the 
lawlessness  which  marked  Whitgift's  rule,  says  that  no  in- 
quest was  called  or  sat  on  his  death  as  the  law  required. 
He  adds  that  they  'would  not  soffer  the  body  of  this 
antient  grave  Preacher  and  Father  M [aster]  Cr[ane]  to  be 
caried  to  burial  into  the  city  through  Newgate,  leste  the 
people  who  knew  his  vertue  and  godlines  should  espie  and 
abhor  their  cruel  tie.' 2  The  route  to  Aldermary  would  be 
along  Newgate  Street  and  *  Mylke  Street.' 

To  the  house  of  the  widow,  Mrs.  Crane,  Waldegrave's 
wife  stole  privately  the  day  after  the  seizure  of  the  press, 
bringing  with  her  the  box  of  rescued  type,  which  Nicholas 
Tomkins,  a  servant  of  Mrs.  Crane,  took  charge  of.  The  box 
remained  at  Aldermary  according  to  the  same  testimony 
'about  three  months/  from  April  17th  to  Midsummer.3 

Waldegrave  was  not  long  before  he  obtained  possession 
of  another  press  and  a  fount  of  Eoman  type.  He  probably 
set  up  his  press  secretly  at  Kingston  on  Thames.  Udall 
was  a  minister  in  the  town,  and  would  be  bound  to  favour 
Waldegrave,  who  was  a  fugitive  from  the  Archbishop's 
justice  because  he  had  printed  Udall's  dialogue  Diotrephes. 
From  his  new  printing-house,  Waldegrave  succeeded  in 
issuing  for  Udall's  friend,  John  Penry,  a  young  Welshman 
soon  destined  to  become  famous  both  as  a  writer  and  as  a 
martyr — he  was  sent  to  the  gallows  five  years  later — a 
work  entitled  An  exhortation  'onto  the  governours,  and  people 
of  Mr  Maiesties  country  of  Wales.  This  appeared  about  the 
end  of  April,  so  that  Waldegrave  must  have  set  to  work 
without  delay.  Dr.  Robert  Some,  sometime  chaplain  to 
the  Earl  of  Leicester,  rector  of  Girton,  and  a  year  later 
elected  Master  of  Peterhouse,  had  written  A  Godly  Treatise. 

1  Harl.  MSS.  6848,  7  f .  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  39. 

2  Lansd.  MSS.  65,  65  ;  Powicke,  Trans.  Cong.  Hist.  Soc.  ii.  270. 

3  The    second    Exam,    of    N.    Tomkins,    Harl.    MSS.    7042.      Arber's 
Sketch,  86. 


154  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Several  of  his  controversial  works  bear  that  recommendatory 
title ;  this  particular  godly  treatise  was  '  touching  the 
Ministerie,  Sacraments  and  Church.'  Its  date  is  May  6th, 
1588.  A  second  edition  of  Penry's  tract  states  that 
'  master  D[octor]  Somes  booke  was  published  this  day.' 

(2)  THE  FIRST  MARPRELATE  PRINTING-HOUSE. — The 
authorities,  ever  on  the  look  out  for  Waldegrave,  must  have 
heard  that  he  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Kingston ;  for 
we  have  an  account  of  a  celebrated  expedition  by  water 
to  the  town  despatched  by  4the  Stationers'  Company  on 
June  10th.  The  quest  proved  futile,  except  so  far  as  it 
afforded  a  pleasant  excursion  to  the  Stationers'  warden  and 
his  men.1  But  evidently  the  search  grew  hot,  and  it  was 
thought  prudent  to  move  the  press.  We  therefore  find 
Penry  soliciting  Mrs.  Crane  for  the  use  of  her  house  at 
East  Molesey,  near  Kingston.  Having  received  her  per- 
mission, Mrs.  Waldegrave  called  at  Aldermary  for  the 
box  of  types  which,  with  '  a  load  of  stuff '  were  lodged  at 
Molesey.  The  first  work  which  Waldegrave  took  in  hand 
was  a  new  tract  by  Udall  bearing  the  title  A  Demonstra- 
tion of  Discipline.  Penry  and  Waldegrave  are  stated  by 
Nicholas  Tompkins  to  have  resided  at  his  mistress's  house 
'for  three  weeks  from  Midsummer.'  The  probability  is 
that  the  press  was  used  more  or  less  during  July  and 
August ;  and  during  the  latter  month  Waldegrave  printed 
Penry's  promised  reply  to  Some's  Godly  Treatise,  bearing 
the  title,  A  Defence  of  that  which  hath  bin  written.  Dr. 
Some  issued  an  enlarged  edition  of  his  Godly  Treatise, 
replying  to  Penry's  Defence,  bearing  date  Sept.  19th,  1588. 

We  may  assume  that  having  seen  his  pamphlet  through 
the  press,  Penry  departed  for  Northampton,  which  was 
early  a  centre  of  reforming  activity ;  and,  as  already  de- 
scribed, became  the  scene  of  an  extended  experiment  of 
municipal  government  in  accordance  with  the  '  Discipline.' 
Edmund  Snape,  the  curate  of  St.  Peter's,  Northampton,  was 
a  warm  friend  of  Penry's.  Bancroft  states  that  in  1587 
both  Penry  and  Snape  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
1  See  THE  EPISTLE,  23,  43. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      155 

classis  which  met  at  Northampton.1  Penry  here  became 
acquainted  with  Henry  Godley,  who  in  1584  was  one  of 
the  two  '  thirdborowes '  for  the  '  sowth '  ward ; 2  and  on 
Sept.  5th,  1588,  at  All  Saints',  the  principal  church  in  the 
town,  Penry  married  Eleanor,  the  thirdborough's  daughter.3 
She  proved  herself  during  their  brief  and  troubled  married 
life  to  be  a  wife  worthy  of  him  in  every  respect. 

(3)  THE  FIRST  MARTIN. — About  Michaelmas  we  find 
that  Penry  and  Waldegrave  are  back  at  Mrs.  Crane's  house 
at  East  Molesey.  Waldegrave  had  managed  to  get  from 
the  Continent  a  fount  of  very  handsome  '  black  letter '  type, 
in  several  sizes.  And  Penry,  for  most  probably  it  was  he, 
brought  with  him  a  notable  manuscript — the  '  copy '  of  the 
first  Marprelate  Tract,  which  we  know  as  THE  EPISTLE. 
This  was  printed  during  the  early  part  of  October  from  the 
new  '  Dutch  letters.'  The  difficulty  of  putting  it  into 
circulation  was,  no  doubt,  very  great.  But  the  men  and 
women  who  had  entered  upon  this  daring  enterprise  were 
prepared  to  run  risks ;  and  in  an  extraordinary  degree  they 
that  joined  the  ranks  of  the  reformers  were  loyal  to 
one  another.  Of  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  Marprelate  Tracts,  we  know  of  no  one  who,  to 
save  his  own  skin,  voluntarily  supplied  the  authorities  with 
convicting  evidence,  except  Henry  Sharpe,  the  Northampton 
bookbinder.  And  he  appears  to  have  been  drawn  to  the 
business  by  mercenary  motives,  rather  than  by  any  strong 
and  impelling  religious  convictions. 

Copies  were  certainly  sent  without  delay  to  London. 
Giles  Wigginton, — soon  to  suffer  as  a  suspected  author  from 
the  rage  of  Whitgift, — staying  at  Mrs.  Crane's  house  in 
Aldermary  at  this  time,  was  early  supplied  with  copies,  one 
of  which  he  gave  to  Mrs.  Crane's  servant,  Nicholas  Tomkins. 
He  in  turn  transferred  the  copy  to  his  relatives.  A  copy 
which  was  being  read  at  Mrs.  Crane's  was  said  to  have  cost 

1  Dangerous  Positions. 

2  Dr.  J.  C.  Cox,  Records  of  the  Boro'  of  Northampton.    ( The  thirdboroughs 
were  subordinate  officials  of  the  constable,'  vol.  ii.  139,  140. 

3  History  of  the  Church  of  St.  Peter's,  Rev.  R.  M.   Serjeantson,   M.A., 
p.  35  n. 


156  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

ninepence,  but  Tomkins  could  get  as  many  copies  as  he  wished 
for  sixpence.  Waldegrave  even  offered  him  the  entire  stock, 
giving  him  the  chance  of  gaining  twenty  marks  profit 
[£13:6:8  =  £100  present  money. — Dr.  Arber].1  The  leading 
nonconforming  ministers  and  laymen  found  means  to  get 
early  copies.  No  doubt  Mrs.  Waldegrave  was  an  assiduous 
'  distractor '  of  her  husband's  craftsmanship.  If  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Lawson,  the  '  shrew  of  Paul's  Gate/  answered  to  the 
character  given  her  by  friend  and  foe,  she  would  be  a 
fearless  distributing  agent.  Some  of  the  booksellers  were 
shrewdly  suspected  of  carrying  on  a  nefarious  but  not 
unprofitable  trade  in  '  Martins.'  In  the  neighbouring  town 
of  Kingston  they  soon  got  into  circulation.  They  were  on 
sale  at  the  house  of  '  Markes  Collyns/  who  was  '  one  of  the 
baylies  of  the  Towne  of  Kingeston ' ;  also  at  the  house  of 
'  one  Robert  Doddesdon.'  Doddesdon  was  reported  to  have 
offered  a  copy  of  THE  EPISTLE  to  a  fellow-townsman,  Roger 
Watson,  for  sixpence ;  though  Nicholas  Kydwell,  who  sup- 
plied this  information,  stated  that  '  the  sayd  bookes '  were 
'  sold  in  the  sayd  housen  for  iid.  a  peece.' 2 

(4)  THE  PKESS  AT  FAWSLEY  HOUSE. — It  had  been  fore- 
seen by  Penry,  who  in  all  his  management  of  the  secret  press 
had  shown  a  striking  combination  of  cool  daring  and  of  prudent 
and  cautious  resourcefulness,  that  the  press  could  not  remain 
long  at  Molesey  without  detection.  Mrs.  Crane,  a  woman 
of  some  courage,  had  strong  fears  on  the  subject.  Penry 
was,  however,  able  to  promise  her  that  the  whole  of  the 
apparatus  would  presently  be  removed  to  Northamptonshire. 
Among  the  persons  favourable  to  church  reform  whom  he 
had  met  at  Northampton,  the  most  distinguished  undoubtedly 
was  Sir  Richard  Knightley  of  Fawsley,  who  had  filled  the 
office  of  High  Sheriff  and  was  Deputy  Lieutenant  for  the 
county,  which  he  also  represented  in  Parliament  between 
the  years  1584  and  1597.  He  was  of  an  ancient  family, 
and  both  by  reason  of  his  wealth  and  social  position,  as 
well  as  his  official  dignities,  exercised  a  very  considerable 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  fol.  13  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  85. 
2  Nicholas  Kydwell's  deposition,  Harl.  MSS.  6849,  fol.  157. 


&\)  rcab  ouct  $  J 


lumc/  tittitten  againft  fye  ^nrttancg/  in  tlje  Defence  of 

iable,  dcatfllc/  fop  ao  toqjfljitp^i1.!  a  pjieffc/  ^!al;a  ^;tD0ca/ 
f  fUFtct/P?irfl  o;  clbct/bocta?  of  ^iuillitie/  and  55canc  of 
£anim,ttt>l;crn;n  tljt  argumcuto  of  t^c  puritano  ate 
?c  oemco/  tljat  toljcn  tfyep  came  to  an> 
»39octa?/tl;fp  muf?  uccQe« 
p  fomctfymg  ti;at  l;at^ 
licne  fpohen* 

Coitipfleu  f  o?  tlje  befjooft  anD  oi)ttt!)?oib  of 

tl)e^arfoi^/fpcliet^/ant)Cun:at.8;/t!)ati)atjeJem 

t!;ctt  £atcd)ifmc0/aub  are  pafl  grace:  ^p  tl;e  reuetcntx 
au^J  tx)6?t(;t'e/nartt»  /hatrp?elat 
ijct)icate()  to  t^e  ^o»foca 


itome  te  not  ret  pubUQeft/bnt  it  (l^all  bel»!jctt 

ifljopoate  at  coutienient  kpfticc  to  wen?  tljc  fame, 
^  n  tfyc  meane  time/let  rt;em  be  content  toirtj 
tl;ia  learned  »<rpiflle, 


t&jtntrt>  obetfea/m  europe JDtfljtn  ttbo  fut^ 

-   •-      -  'attt)ecoftr^-u~^ 

/0entleman, 


CHE  i 

I 


Trn.E-i'A(;E  OK   7>//:  EPISTLE,  THE  FIRST  MAKI-RKLAI-K  TRACT. 

'/'//<'  ori^iinil  is  n  small  I'.liznhctlntn  ,/itarto. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      157 

authority  in  the  shire.  He  is  represented  as  having  spent 
a  more  or  less  careless  and  dissolute  early  life.  This  is 
alleged  on  the  strength  of  an  inscription  which  he  had 
placed  upon  his  portrait,  and  which  speaks  of  his  '  recklesse 
youthe ' ; *  a  phrase  to  be  understood  in  the  light  of  the 
usual  Puritan  estimation  of  any  life  not  consciously  devoted 
to  the  service  of  God.  For  his  second  wife  he  married 
Lady  Elizabeth  Seymour,  daughter  to  the  Protector  and 
cousin  to  Edward  VI.  The  warm  sympathy  of  Lady 
Elizabeth  Knightley  with  the  reformation  of  religion  may 
be  taken  for  granted. 

The  printing  had  been  proceeding  at  Molesey  not  more 
than  a  month,2  when  Penry  sounded  Sir  Richard  Knightley 
on  the  question  of  removing  the  press  to  Fawsley.  His 
alleged  plea,  according  to  Sir  Richard,  was  that  he  desired 
to  print  a  book  on  '  the  unlerned  Ministri  of  Wales ' ;  or  to 
reprint  the  Aequity,  published  at  Oxford  the  previous  year, 
which  to  Sir  Richard's  knowledge  'was  never  called  in/ 
What  he  probably  requested  was  room  to  print  his  '  Sup- 
plication.' This  was  confused  with  the  Aequity,  which  also 
was  a  supplication  to  Parliament.  The  permission  was 
granted.  As  their  labours  on  THE  EPISTLE  were  drawing 
to  a  close,  knowing  that  all  the  resources  of  Whitgift  would 
be  spent  freely  in  searching  for  the  press  once  the  new  and 
daring  pamphlet  got  into  his  hands,  Penry  and  Waldegrave 
felt  it  was  necessary  to  leave  Molesey.  Penry,  doubtless 
glad  of  an  excuse  to  see  his  young  wife,  therefore  visited 
Northampton,  taking  some  sheets  of  the  new  work  with  him 
to  revise.  In  his  interview  with  Sir  Richard  he  had  received 
from  him  '  a  ring  of  three  Gyrnawes  ' — a  triple  gimmal  ring 
— as  a  token  of  his  authority  to  the  keeper  of  Fawsley 
House.3  Towards  the  close  of  October  Waldegrave  was 
able  to  leave  Molesey  and  hurried  to  Northampton.  It  was 

1  See  Baker's  Hist,   of  Northamptonshire,  i.  385.     Two  portraits  are  re- 
produced in  the  Ancestor,  July  1902,  the  above,  and  an  older  figure,  which 
we  have  been  allowed  to  reproduce. 

2  'About  St.  Jamestide  was  twelvemonth,' says  Sir  Richard  at  his  trial 
on  Feb.  13th,  1590.      See  State  Trials  (ed.  Hargrave),  vii.  29. 

3  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  f.  1  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  130. 


158  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

the  time  of  the  annual  muster  of  the  county  militia,  at 
which  Sir  Richard  in  his  official  capacity  would  be  present, 
and  during  the  functions  Waldegrave  found  an  opportunity 
of  completing  the  arrangements.  Jeffs,  a  tenant-farmer 
living  at  Upton,  near  Northampton,  under  Valentine 
Knightley,  the  eldest  son  of  Sir  Richard,  was  induced  to 
go  to  Molesey  with  his  cart  to  fetch  a  '  load  of  stuff,'  for 
which  he  received  from  JPenry  '  for  his  paynes  and  charges 
50s/  Country  folk  knew  next  to  nothing  of  the  mechanism 
of  printing,  which  was  restricted  to  London,  and  to  a  single 
press  at  each  of  the  universities.  Jeffs,  when  he  saw  the 
bits  of  lead  or  iron  which  formed  part  of  the  'stuff/  was 
wonderingly  told  by  Penry  that  they  were  'letters/  He 
must  have  known  that  he  was  engaged  on  some  dangerous 
business  when  he  was  given  a  sum  of,  say,  fifteen  or  sixteen 
pounds  for  his  labour  and  expenses. 

Jeffs  reached  East  Molesey  towards  the  last  days  of 
October  with  his  cart.  Penry  met  him  on  his  arrival,  and 
handed  over  to  him  the  compromising  load.  How  long  he 
would  take  to  do  the  journey  to  Fawsley  it  is  difficult  to 
say.  He  would  cross  the  Thames  by  Kingston  Bridge, 
having  the  printing  apparatus  covered  with  hay  or  straw, 
or  as  a  countryside  tradition  has  it  in  regard  to  this  trans- 
action, with  his  cart  laden  with  turnips.  The  roads  were 
extremely  bad  for  a  wheeled  vehicle,  and  Jeffs  would  be 
instructed  to  avoid  unnecessary  publicity ;  to  choose  by 
preference  the  less  frequented  roads,  which,  no  doubt,  were 
the  worse  to  travel  by.  The  public  inns  were  not  safe 
lodgings  for  a  cart  containing  a  contraband  press.  Alto- 
gether it  was  a  difficult  and  slow  journey,  and  we  are  safe 
in  allowing  Jeffs,  with  due  stoppages  at  friendly  farms  and 
inns  and  the  Sunday  interval,  about  ten  or  twelve  days  for 
his  memorable  journey.  He  was  timed  to  arrive  at  Fawsley 
when  the  master  was  away.  Sir  Richard  professes  only 
hearsay  knowledge  of  most  of  what  happened.  It  was  at 
any  rate  some  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  into  November — the 
date  is  variously  hazarded  from  memory,  after  the  lapse  of 
a  year,  as  '  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  after  Hollomas ' 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      159 

(Nov.  14— 2 1),1  and  is  probably  wrong  by  some  days — 
when  Penry  appeared  at  Fawsley  House  and  presented  the 
keeper,  Lawrence  Jackson,  with  Sir  Richard's  gimmal  ring 
in  token  of  his  authority.  In  an  hour  or  two  Farmer  Jeffs 
arrives  and  discharges  his  load  of  stuff  contained  in  baskets, 
'  saving  one  thing  like  a  black-stone,'  the  ink-stone,  doubt- 
less. These  things  Jackson  '  bestowed  in  the  Nursery,  and 
delivered  the  key  unto  Pen[ry].'  When  Mrs.  Crane  arrived 
at  her  house  at  East  Molesey  this  same  Allhallowtide,  the 
embarrassing  furniture,  so  Nicholas  Tomkins,  her  servant, 
tells  us,  was  gone. 

Meantime  the  EPISTLE  was  getting  rapidly  into  general 
circulation.  It  was  not  long  in  reaching  Lambeth  Palace, 
where  its  significance  was  not  misunderstood.  An  epis- 
copal committee  was  speedily  summoned  to  consider  the 
situation.  It  consisted,  so  Martin  heard,  of  the  Arch- 
bishop, Aylmer,  Cooper  of  Winchester,  and  Wickham  of 
Lincoln.2  That  the  new  type  of  tract  was  more  dangerous 
than  even  the  grave,  lucid,  convincing  Scriptural  argument 
of  the  popular  little  tract,  The  Learned  Discourse,  was 
evident.  Every  one  was  eager  to  buy  '  Martin  ' ;  the  sale 
was  only  restricted  because  of  the  difficulty  of  purchase. 
'  Many  would  gladly  receive  my  books  if  they  could  tell 
where  to  find  them.'  Every  man,  says  Martin,  '  talks  of 
my  Worship.'  He  says  that  he  has  been  '  entertained  at 
Court/ 3  In  the  Midlands  Fawsley  House  was  a  distribut- 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  1  ;  Arber,  Sketch,  130. 

2  THE  EPITOME,  Introd.  Ep.  1st  page. 

3  Ibid.  2.     The  reference  to  the  appearance  of  the  EPISTLE  at  Court  is 
confirmed  by  the  story  of  the  Queen  speaking  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  about  the 
recent  proclamation  which  forbade  any  one  to  have  a  copy  of  the  pamphlet 
in  his  possession.    '  What  then  is  to  become  of  me  ? '  asked  the  Earl,  drawing 
forth  a  copy  of  the  offending   '  libell '  and  presenting  it  to  her  Majesty 
(R.  Coddrington's  Life  and  Death  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex  ;  reprinted  in  the 
Harleian  Miscellany,  i.  214  [ed.  1744]).     Among  early  notices  of  the  circu- 
lation of  the  Tracts  is  Francis  Thynn's  remark,  writing  to  Lord  Burleigh  on 
Nov.  15th,  1588,  in  which  he  deprecates  being  considered  'one  of  the  foolish 
sons  of  Martin  Marprelate  '  (S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz.  1588).     This  implies  that  the 
EPISTLE  must  have  been  widely  read  at  this  date,  and  have  been  in  circula- 
tion some  weeks  at  least.     Another  interesting  piece  of  evidence  on   its 
circulation  among  the  upper  classes  is  found  in    the   statement    of  Giles 
Wigginton  at  his  examination  at  Lambeth,   Dec.    6th,    1588.      Asked  by 


160  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

ing  centre  where  the  initiated  could  obtain  copies  of  the 
EPISTLE.  As  early  as  the  first  day  of  November  we  hear  of 
a  visitor  at  Fawsley  seeking  and  obtaining  copies.1  A  ballad 
entitled  '  Martin  said  to  his  man  whoe  is  the  foole  nowe,' 
entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  on  Nov.  9th,  seems  to  allude  to 
the  popular  subject.2 

(5)  THE  EPISCOPAL  'HUE  AND  CRY.'  —  The  episcopal 
juncta  probably  set  on  foot  the  activities  of  the  Privy 
Council  with  the  Queen's  authority.  Elizabeth  might 
deplore  some  of  the  episcopal  scandals,  and  object  to  the 
avarice  of  her  Bishops ;  but  their  dignity  was  part  of  her 
conception  of  the  necessary  pomp  of  a  sovereign  state. 
And  though  she  rated  them  soundly  and  threatened  to  un- 
frock a  recalcitrant  and  intractable  Prelate,  it  was  a  luxury 
she  strictly  reserved  to  herself.  Moreover  it  was  the 
assiduous  care  of  her  Bishops  to  instil  into  the  Queen's 
mind  the  idea  that  opposition  to  themselves,  and  to  the 
Church  order  as  established  by  herself,  was  sedition.  She 
therefore  looked  with  anything  but  favour  at  all  the  world 
and  his  wife  laughing  at  the  expense  of  her  Church  dig- 
nitaries. It  was  easy  in  these  circumstances  for  Whitgift 
to  move  the  authorities  to  action.  The  Privy  Council 
speedily  issued  an  instruction  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  and 
the  Lord  Treasurer  to  write  to  the  Archbishop,  enjoining 
him  to  set  in  motion  the  machinery  of  the  High  Commis- 
sion, or  by  other  action,  'to  serch  out  the  authors  [of  the 
EPISTLE]  and  the[i]r  complices,  and  ye  pryntors  and  ye 
secret  dispersers  of  ye  same,  and  to  cause  them  to  be 
apprehended  and  committed.'  Their  lordships'  letter  also 
declared  the  object  of  Martin's  book  to  be,  to  create  a  dis- 

Whitgift  if  he  had  not  been  a  means  of  distributing  the  EPISTLE,  he  replies, 
'  I  understand  by  hearsay  (that  which  I  suppose  you  know  well  enough)  that 
many  Lords  and  Ladyes,  and  other  greate  and  wealthy  personages  of  all 
estates,  have  had  and  read  it ;  and  so  they  will  joyne  with  me  in  mine 
having  and  reading  of  it,  if  I  have  done  either  or  both.  And  in  my  simple 
judgement  it  would  be  more  for  your  credit  if  you  would  examine  indifferently 
all  sorts  [of  persons]  about,  and  not  poor  folke  only  as  you  use  to  do.  TJie 
Second  Parte  of  a  Register  (MS.),  845,  Dr.  Williams'  Lib. 

1  Lansd.  MSS.  61,  22  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  114. 

2  Arber's  Sketch,  139. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      161 

like  of  the  government  of  the  Church  by  Bishops,  and  to 
give  currency  to  '  slanderous  reports  ageynst  your  Grace 
and  ye  rest  of  ye  Bishoppes ' ;  adding  her  Majesty's  opinion, 
that  it  tended  to  subvert  all  government  under  her  charge 
'  both  in  ye  Church  and  commenweale.'  * 

The  Prelates  had  discovered  traces  of  Waldegrave's 
active  presence  at  Kingston  on  Thames,  and  on  the  same 
date  on  which  the  Council's  letter  reached  them  opened  an 
inquiry  in  that  town.  Nicholas  Kydwell  and  John  Good, 
two  of  the  citizens,  were  examined ;  five  days  later  Walter 
Eogers,  a  minister  in  the  town,  submitted  himself  to  ex- 
amination, and  perhaps  still  a  little  later,  Stephen  Chat- 
field,  the  vicar  of  Kingston,  a  more  important  witness, 
made  a  deposition.  Some  of  the  actual  distributers  of  the 
EPISTLE  were  discovered ;  and  a  very  determined  effort  was 
made  to  identify  John  Udall,  the  silenced  minister  of 
Kingston,  with  the  production  of  the  pamphlet ; 2  with 
what  amount  of  truth  we  shall  consider  later  on. 

(6)  THE  SECOND  MARTIN. — All  this  while  the  Martinis ts 
at  Fawsley  have  a  second  pamphlet  busily  in  hand.  It  is 
the  EPITOME — promised  in  the  first  tract.  A  day  or  two 
after  the  arrival  of  the  press  Waldegrave,  the  Puritan 
printer,  appeared  on  the  scene,  bringing  with  him  *  a 
servant ' ; 3  an  assistant  to  help  in  working  the  press. 
Although  some  of  the  house  servants  at  Fawsley  must  have 
known  what  was  going  on,  the  secret  was  probably  kept 
within  as  narrow  a  circle  as  was  possible.  The  '  nursery ' 
was  a  chamber  in  the  roof,  not  existing  in  the  present 
building ;  in  his  evidence  at  his  trial  Sir  Richard  Knightley 
does  not  profess  to  know  very  much  about  the  disposition 
of  the  press,  which  'was  never  in  his  own  house  at  the 
farther  end  of  the  town.' 4  Waldegrave  was  known  as 
Sheme  or  Shamne  or  Shamuel,  though  Stephen  Gifford,  Sir 
Richard's  confidential  man,  gives  him  his  right  name.  It 

1  Lands.  MSS.   103  f.   102.      Arber's  Sketch,  107,  108.     The  letter  to 
the  Archbishop  bears  the  date,  Nov.  14,  1588. 

2  Harl.  MSS.  6849  ff.  157,  159,  120,  130.     Arber's  Sketch,  81  f. 

3  Harl.  MSS.  7042  f.  1.     Sketch,  130. 

4  Town  =  the  enclosure  containing  the  house  and  adjoining  buildings. 

M 


162  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

was  pretended  that  he  had  come  to  examine  and  set  in 
order  the  master's  '  evidences/ — i.e.  title-deeds.  From 
Northampton,  some  fourteen  miles  away,  came  John  Penry 
on  frequent  visits — too  frequent  to  please  the  more  cautious 
Waldegrave.  Penry  acted  as  press  corrector.  But  in 
order  to  divert  the  suspicion  of  the  dependents  about  the 
house,  one  of  them,  Peter  Greve,  who  took  '  Penry  to  be 
Martyn,'  states,  that  '  Martyn  went  disguised  in  a  long  sky- 
coloured  Cloak,  or  of  a  light  colour,  and  had  the  Coller  of 
the  said  Cloak  edged  with  gould  and  Silver  and  Silke 
Lace,  and  a  light-coloured  Hatt,  with  an  arming  Sworde 
by  his  side.' l  There  is  a  slight  ambiguity  in  the  form  of 
the  words,  and  we  know  from  much  evidence  that  the 
rumours  in  the  servants'  hall  respecting  the  mysterious 
visitors  and  their  proceedings  were  by  no  means  free 
from  error.  Yet  likely  enough  the  gaily  attired  visitor 
was  Penry ;  the  only  difficulty  of  the  situation  being 
that  Penry  could  have  been  no  stranger  to  many  persons 
at  Fawsley.  Had  Waldegrave  chosen  so  to  disguise  himself 
it  might  be  more  easily  understood.2 

It  was  the  close  application  of  the  printers  which  prob- 
ably was  the  cause  of  '  Waldegrave's  man  being  sick.'  He 
lacked  exercise,  and  it  was  too  dangerous  to  let  him  mix 
freely  with  the  inmates ;  so  that  he  was  necessarily  con- 
fined to  the  small  chamber  where  the  work  was  carried  on. 
There  Edward  Sharpe,  the  minister  of  Fawsley,  visited  him ; 
and  there  he  found  a  copy  of  the  newly  printed  book.  He 
took  one  copy  to  Sir  Richard  Knightley,  '  advertising  him, 
what  was  done  in  his  Howse.'  Sharpe  was  a  Puritan,  and 
later  on  found  himself  in  prison  because  of  his  views ;  but 
he  evidently  disapproved  and  feared  this  method  of  attack. 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042  f.  7.     Arber,  Sketch,  128. 

2  This  is  how  Mr.  Oswald  Barrow,  F.S.A.  (in  The  Ancestor,  July  1902), 
comments  on  the  fact  that  the  gaily  attired  person  was  identified  as  Penry. 
'  It  may  be  that  the  sour  fanatic  did  not  carry  these  Babylonish  garments 
with  a  convincing  swagger,  for  curious  eyes  pried  into  the  garret. '     But  he 
further  states,  against  probability  and  weight  of  evidence,  that  the  'broad- 
side '  was  also  printed  at  Fawsley.      So  that,  as  Martin  would  say,  there  is  a 
decorum  observed  by  Mr.  Oswald  Barrow  ;  his  conception  of  Penry 's  char- 
acter is  in  keeping  with  his  acquaintance  with  the  facts  of  the  controversy. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      163 

Nor  was  it  possible  to  keep  the  matter  absolutely  secret. 
The  keeper's  maid  '  gave  yt  out  .  .  .  that  there  had  bene 
Bookes  printed  lately  at  Fawsley.'  Henry  Sharpe,  the 
Northampton  bookbinder,  an  inveterate  gossip  and  of  a 
peculiarly  inquisitive  turn  of  mind,  whose  evidence,  though 
mixed  with  much  that  is  prima  facie  inaccurate,  is  our 
chief  source  of  information  on  several  points.  Penry  took 
him  into  his  confidence  to  a  certain  degree ;  it  was  probably 
necessary  to  run  the  risk.  Waldegrave  was  overladen  with 
work  in  being  obliged  not  only  to  set  up  the  type,  and 
assist  at  the  press,  but  also  to  collate  the  sheets  and  stitch 
them  ('  binding '  it  is  called  in  all  the  official  documents). 
Henry  Sharpe  accompanied  Penry,  it  must  have  been 
towards  the  end  of  October,1  to  Fawsley  House.  But 
Penry,  rendered,  perhaps,  more  prudent  by  the  warnings  of 
Waldegrave,  who  had  been  '  in  prisons  oft,'  left  Sharpe 
baiting  his  horse  in  a  field  some  distance  from  the  house, 
until  his  return  '  with  a  Cloke  Bag  with  Bookes  behind 
him.'  Next  day  copies  of  the  EPITOME  were  brought  to 
Sharpe's  house,  who  was  willing  enough  to  make  money  out 
of  their  sale.  Sharpe  says  he  paid  Penry  for  them.2 

(7)  HUMFREY  NEWMAN,  CHIEF  DISTRIBUTER. — At  this 
juncture  also  a  much  more  important  agent  of  Marprelate 
comes  upon  the  scene  in  the  person  of  Humfrey  Newman, 
known  also  by  the  alias  Brownbread,  and  described  as  a 
cobbler.  This  silent  man,  the  indefatigable  distributer  of 
the  dangerous  tracts,  trudging  backwards  and  forwards 
between  the  Midlands  and  London,  depositing  his  parcels  of 
books  at  various  houses  and  places  of  call,  not  given  to 
chatter,  not  seeking  any  selfish  gain,  makes  a  marked  im- 
pression upon  us.  He  appears  frequently  at  Fawsley, 
attired  at  first  '  in  a  grene  Cloak  and  a  grene  Hat/  but  in 
a  short  time  in  '  Sir  Eichard  Knightley  his  livery.5  3  A  few 
days  after  Henry  Sharpe  had  received  his  copies,  Newman 

1  See  a  brief  discussion  of  the  date  of  the  EPITOME  by  the  present  writer 
in  the  Journal  of  the  Northamptonshire  Nat.  Hist.   Soc.  Sept.    1905  (vol. 
xiii.  No.  103). 

2  Harl.  MSS.  7042  f.  23  (Arbor's  Sketch,  96  [k]). 

3  Ibid.  f.  10  (Ibid.  131). 


1 64  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

appeared  at  Northampton  with  the  principal  stock  of  the 
EPITOME.  The  interim  had  been  occupied  by  Waldegrave 
in  '  making  up '  and  stitching.  Newman's  journey  to 
London  is  made  by  way  of  Northampton,  rather  than  by 
the  more  direct  route  through  Banbury,  presumably  to 
avoid  giving  any  hint  as  to  the  location  of  the  press ;  and 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  regard  to  his  destination  on  leav- 
ing Northampton,  that  Sharpe  only  surmises  that  it  was 
London.  Sharpe's  deposition  never  goes  beyond  '  he  thinketh.' 
Not  much  gratuitous  information  was  to  be  elicited  from 
the  reticent  Newman. 

(8)  THE  HIGH  COMMISSION  AT  WORK. — Giles  Wiggin- 
ton,  the  deprived  Yorkshire  minister,  was  in  London  enjoy- 
ing one  of  his  periods  of  liberation  from  gaol,  and  during 
the  first  days  of  December  had  copies  of  the  new  tract. 
On  December  6th  he  was  once  more  convented  before 
Whitgift  at  Lambeth,  as  already  narrated,  and  was  examined 
about  the  '  second  Martin.'  By  the  craft  of  Monday,  the 
pursuivant,  in  whose  charge  he  went  to  Lambeth  and  whom 
afterwards  he  sadly  judged  to  be  one  '  who  seemeth  to 
favour  the  Pope  and  to  be  a  great  dissembler,'  Wigginton 
was  led  on  to  '  speake  more  boldly  to  him  of  Church  govern- 
ment and  of  the  two  Bookes  extant  of  M[artin].  All  which 
Mond[ay]  promised  to  conceal,  and  pretended  a  desire  to  be 
instructed.  But  when  he  came  to  Lambeth  he  accused 
G-.  "W.  treacherously  as  having  read  the  second  Booke  of 
Mar[tin],  and  as  having  told  the  tale  of  the  "  spell  goose  " 
out  of  it.' 

The  persecution  of  Wigginton  was  a  sign  of  the  renewed 
activity  of  the  Prelates  in  their  search  for  the  '  makers  and 
distractors '  of  Martin  Marprelate.  The  great  political 
events  of  the  year  1588  had  somewhat  overshadowed  the 
ecclesiastical  controversy  and  the  growing  opposition  to 
Whitgift's  rule.  When  Waldegrave  and  Penry  were  busy 
with  their  secret  press  at  Molesey,  the  Armada  of  Spain 
was  creeping  up  the  Channel  to  its  doom.  And  the  same 
confederates  were  just  completing  the  printing  of  Martin's 
EPITOME  of  Dean  Bridge's  Defence,  as  near  as  can  be  com- 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      165 

puted,  on  the  very  day,  Nov.  24th,  when  Elizabeth  attended 
in  state  a  solemn  Te  Deum  at  St.  Paul's,  in  order  to  cele- 
brate the  great  deliverance.  Nevertheless,  Whitgift  was 
fully  alive  to  the  dangers  of  the  situation.  The  existence 
of  an  active  anti-episcopal  press  was  no  new  feature  in  the 
struggle.  Just  as  the  edicts  of  uniformity  gave  birth  to 
an  active  nonconformity,  so  also  the  rigour  of  the  censor- 
ship established  the  secret  press,  which  had  been  busily  at 
work  in  spite  of  the  restricting  Injunctions,  since  the  days 
of  Field  and  Wilcox's  celebrated  Admonition  to  Parliament. 
But  a  new  and  portentous  element  had  been  introduced 
into  the  attack  on  the  Prelates.  The  wit  and  banter,  the 
new  and  individual  note  of  humour,  the  vie  intime  of  the 
Bishops,  these  were  the  spread  sails  which  caught  the 
popular  breeze,  and  brought  into  harbour  a  solid  cargo  of 
advanced  reformed  teaching  concerning  the  authority  of 
Bishops  and  the  constitution  of  the  Church.  As  Wiggin- 
ton  in  the  beginning  of  December  reminded  Whitgift  '  many 
Lords  and  Ladyes  and  other  greate  and  wealthy  personages 
of  all  estates '  had  copies  of  Martin  and  were  reading  them. 
The  Archbishop  got  nothing  out  of  Giles  Wigginton,  save 
the  satisfaction  of  once  more  sending  an  old  opponent  to 
gaol. 

(9)  BISHOP  COOPER'S  ADMONITION  TO  THE  PEOPLE. — In 
the  first  days  of  the  new  year,  the  result  of  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  episcopal  committee  was  seen  in  the  publication 
of  An  Admonition  to  the  People  of  England,  bearing  the 
signature  T.  C.  Now  the  people  of  England  were  not 
unaccustomed  to  the  appearance  of  '  Admonitions '  bearing 
these  famous  initials,  which  all  Europe  knew  to  be  the 
literary  signature  of  Thomas  Cartwright.  The  surprise 
would  be  great  when  they  discovered  that  this  particular 
Admonition  was  a  defence  of  the  Bishops  against  Martin 
Marprelate,  and  a  defence  of  the  established  order  against 
all  and  sundry.  It  was  very  soon  known  that  the  writer 
was  Bishop  Thomas  Cooper  of  Winchester.  The  fact  that 
the  Prelates  felt  it  necessary  to  publish  this  defence  of 
themselves  and  their  Church  administration  was  an  acknow- 


i66  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

ledgment  of  the  prowess  of  their  new  antagonist.  The 
Archbishop,  and  Bishop  Aylmer,  and  in  briefer  form,  the 
Bishops  of  Rochester,  Lincoln,  and  Winchester,  severally 
supply  their  own  personal  defence.  Then  the  treatise 
touches  on  the  established  Church  government  and  '  what  in- 
conueniences  they  fear  vpon  the  alteration  thereof  will  come 
to  the  state  of  the  Realme  ' ;  it  gives  '  answeres  to  certaine 
generall  Crimes  objected  to  all  the  Bishops  without  excep- 
tion ' — that  they  exercise  their  functions  for  the  sake  of 
gain,  selling  livings,  relaxations  from  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
the  privilege  of  ordination ;  it  denies  the  accusation,  sup- 
ported, by  the  way,  by  almost  all  persons  outside  the 
officials  of  the  Church,  from  the  Queen  downwards,  that  the 
Bishops  maintained  'an  vnlearned  Ministry/  and  thereby 
encouraged  the  revolt  of  the  people.  The  charges  of  main- 
taining '  Pilling  and  powling,'  that  is  plundering,  Courts,  of 
'  abusing  Ecclesiastical  discipline/  of  '  ambition  and  griedie 
seeking  after  Liuings  and  promotion '  is  denied ;  nor  do  the 
Bishops  hoard  for  the  sake  of  their  wives  and  children,  and 
furnish  their  table  with  gold  and  silver  plate  by  extortionate 
fines.  Whether  the  Prince — the  Sovereign — should  take 
away  from  the  Bishops  '  their  great  Lands  and  Liuings  and 
set  them  to  meane  Pensions '  and  thus  compel  them  to  be 
like  the  Apostles  and  to  follow  the  example  of  Christ  in 
that  respect,  is  discussed  from  the  Scripture,  with  many 
suave  moralisings,  at  great  length.  The  authority  of  the 
Prince,  and  even  the  wish  and  preference  of  the  Prince  are 
quoted  in  defence  of  most  things  offensive  to  the  thorough- 
going reformers ;  but  an  exception  is  made  in  the  matter 
of  the  emoluments  of  the  Bishops  and  clergy,  and  a  strong 
hint  is  given  to  Elizabeth  of  the  danger  of  expropriating 
Church  property.  The  liberal  maintenance  of  Ministers, 
by  '  Lands,  Houses,  Rents  and  Reuenues '  is  declared  to 
have  been  the  custom  '  from  the  beginning/  and  a  protest  is 
made  against  those  histories  which  attribute  to  the  wealth 
of  the  Church  '  the  chiefe  cause  of  setting  vp  Antichrist  in 
his  Throne/ 

It  will  be  seen  that,  judged  by  its  table  of  contents,  the 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      167 

Admonition  denies  everything  alleged  against  the  Bishops 
and  the  Church.  But  when  we  examine  the  treatise  itself, 
what  most  strikes  us  are  the  admissions  of  the  Bishop.  The 
episcopal  form  of  government  is  defended  on  the  grounds 
of  liberty  and  expediency ;  and  to  support  his  argument  the 
danger  of  innovations  is  frequently  touched  upon.1  Of 
many  of  the  alleged  corruptions  a  consideration  of  their 
antiquity  is  thought  sufficient  defence.  In  seeking  for 
authority  to  support  their  demand  for  a  more  stringent 
moral  code,  the  Puritans  fell  back  upon  the  Jewish  code, 
which  condemns  to  death  every  'blasphemer,  stubborne 
Idolater,  murderer,  Adulterer,  Incestuous  person,  and  such 
like.'  Cooper  objects  to  a  law  which  would  prevent  a 
magistrate  sparing  the  life  of  a  blasphemer,  etc.,  and  would 
also  prevent  magistrates  from  pronouncing  a  death  sentence 
on  theft  and  '  diuers  other  felonies/  as  '  some  of  them  haue 
openly  preached.'  2  We  see  here  the  explanation  why,  in 
another  century,  Ambrose  Phillips  should  have  sung — 

O  Property  !     0  goddess  English  born. 

As  regards  the  accusation  that  the  Bishops  practise  simony, 
the  reply  is  that  the  charge  is  grossly  exaggerated.3  The 
dispensation  of  ecclesiastical  rules  of  discipline,  such  as 
licence  to  marry  and  to  eat  meat  at  forbidden  seasons,  is  a 
matter  of  expediency  and  order.  Cooper  would  retain  the 
dispensing  power  and  the  necessary  fines  and  fees ;  but  on 
the  general  principle  he  is  quite  one  with  the  reformers. 
'  For  to  make  holy  or  vnholy  those  things  that  God  hath 
left  free,  and  bee  of  themselues  indifferent,  is  one  of  the 
chiefe  groundes  of  Papisticall  corruption.'  4  Lent  he  would 
have  observed  for  the  sake  of  the  fishermen,  who  chiefly 
supplied  men  to  the  navy.5  Those  who  would  eat  flesh  at 
their  pleasure  'cannot  pretend  religion,  or  restraint  of 
Christian  libertie,  seeing  open  protestation  is  made  by  the 

1  Cooper's  Admonition,  76  vers.,  77  (Arber's  ed.  65). 
2  Ibid.  77  vers.  (Arber,  66). 
3  Ibid.  88-90  (Arber,  74,  75). 

4  Ibid.  96,  97  (Arber,  80). 
6  In  this  following  the  old  statute. 


168  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

lawe,  that  it  is  not  for  conscience  sake,  but  for  the  defence 
and  safe  tie  of  the  realme.' l 

1  There  be,  I  confesse/  he  writes,  '  many  vnlearned  and 
vnsufficient  Ministers!  His  earlier  denial  he  explains  to 
mean  that  this  character  should  not  be  given  to  the  whole 
ministry.  Besides,  there  are  not  sufficient  duly  qualified 
men  to  fill  all  the  livings,  and  some  of  the  livings  are 
small ;  moreover,  no  minister  is  perfect,  it  is  all  a  question 
of  degree ;  and  whatever  be  the  exact  demands  of  the  law, 
there  is  a  virtue  sometimes  in  breaking  the  law.  The  want 
of  preaching  is  no  excuse  for  revolt ;  there  was  less  preach- 
ing in  the  time  of  Edward,  but  the  people  did  not  then 
revolt.  And  some  part  of  the  fault  must  be  set  down  to  the 
hearers.2  The  seed  may  be  good,  yet  fall  upon  stony  ground. 

But  when  Cooper  comes  to  a  difficult  and  highly  contro- 
versial topic,  such  as  the  article  on  the  Descensus,  he  is  off 
at  a  tangent  instantly,  and  finds  refuge  in  general  moralising. 
To  the  objection  of  the  Puritans  against  this  article,  Cooper 
says,  '  I  beseech  Almightie  God  of  his  great  mercie  that  hee 
will  open  the  eies  of  them,  which  thus  eagerly  haue  striuen 
against  the  present  state  of  this  Church ' ;  and  so  on  for  a 
couple  of  pages.3  The  evangelical  reformers  had  objected 
that  '  Faith  is  the  gift  of  God ;  it  cannot  be  forced  by  any 
punishment :  by  hardnesse  and  extreme  dealing  men  may 
be  made  hypocrites,  but  not  religious :  yea,  .  .  .  that  the 
Apostles  vsed  no  such  helpe  of  Princes  power  to  bring  men 
to  the  faith,  or  to  pull  them  away  from  errour ' — excellent 
doctrine,  even  in  this  year  of  grace.  But  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
Cooper  defends  heartily  the  use  of  physical  force  in  order  to 
punish  heretics  and  recusants.  He  urges  a  religious  sanc- 
tion for  persecution.4 

The  classic  text,  'Die  Ecclesiae,  tell  it  to  the  Church,'  which 
the  Nonconformists  held  could  not  mean  '  tell  it  to  one  person, 
as  the  Bishop '  [though  some  of  them  believed  it  to  mean 
'  tell  it  to  the  elders  '],  the  Bishop  expounds  undogmatically. 

1  Cooper's  Admonition,  98,  99  (Arber,  81). 

2  Ibid.  104-119  (Arber,  85-94). 

3  Ibid.  121-125  (Arber,  96-98). 
4  Ibid.  127-129  (Arber,  99-101). 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      169 

To  the  contention  that  at  that  time  there  were  '  in  every 
congregation '  many  presidents  and  governors  of  the  Church, 
he  replies,  '  I  graunt  it  was  so ' ;  though  he  did  not  grant 
that  it  was  to  be  so  always.  When  it  was  further  contended 
that  '  the  Apostles  afterward,  and  the  Primitive  Church  did 
practise  the  same  [church  polity],'  Cooper  frankly  wrote, 
'  I  will  not  deny  it,'  adding  the  same  claim  for  liberty 
to-day.  But  the  book  was  no  sooner  printed  and  in  the 
booksellers'  hands  than  this  most  awkward  admission, 
which  must  have  escaped  Whitgift's  eye  earlier,  now 
attracted  his  attention.  Peremptory  orders  were  issued  to 
call  all  the  copies  in,  and  two  sentences  were  cancelled  by 
having  corrected  slips  pasted  over  them.  In  this  case  the 
corrected  words  were,  '  That  is  not  yet  proued.' l  But  he 
says  later  that  he  thinks  it  better  'to  beare  with  some 
imperfections '  than  to  run  the  risk  of  '  innovations.' 

The  corruption  in  connection  with  the  ecclesiastical 
courts  is  not  absolutely  denied ;  but  Cooper  holds  that 
it  had  been  exaggerated.  In  some  cases  the  Bishops' 
officers,  not  the  Bishops  themselves,  were  perhaps  to  blame. 
As  regards  the  wealth  of  Bishops,  he  writes  much  but  says 
little.  He  lays  stress  upon  the  opinion  that  the  attack  on 
the  Church — for  in  the  argument  the  Bishops  are  the 
Church — will  lead  to  attacks  on  the  State;  one  of  many 
sentences  intended  for  the  eye  of  Elizabeth.  Bishops' 
incomes  ought  not  to  come  under  the  restrictions  of  the 
Levitical  law,  but  have  leave  to  grow  fat  under  the  liberty 
of  the  Gospel.  All  the  corrupt  Roman  ritual,  '  massing 
apparel  and  almost  all  the  furniture  of  their  Church  in 
censing  and  singing  and  burning  of  Tapers,  their  altars, 
their  propitiatorie  sacrifice,  their  high  Bishop  and  generall 
head  ouer  all  the  Church,  with  a  number  of  other  cor- 
ruptions of  the  Church  of  God ' — all  had  come  out  of  the 
'imitation  of  the  Aaronical  priesthood  and  legall  observa- 
tions ' ;  a  notable  statement  in  view  of  the  present-day 
theories  of  the  Elizabethan  Settlement.2 

1  Cooper's  Admonition,  132-139  (Arber,  103-107). 
2  Ibid.  139-167  (Arber,  107-125). 


1 70  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Tithes,  the  Bishop  contends,  are  the  creation  of  '  positive 
Law.'  They  are  not  to  be  claimed  as  offerings  jure  divino ; 
that,  he  says,  is  '  another  errour  of  the  Papists/  and  he  twits 
the  Puritans  for  agreeing  with  them.1  He  upholds  what  is 
known  as  the  doctrine  of  the  general  priesthood  of  believers  ; 
but  he  uses  the  doctrine  to  show  that  if  poverty  and  priest- 
hood should  go  together,  then  should  all  the  elect  be  poor 
and  apostolic,  and  not  the  Bishops  only.2  Moreover,  poverty 
of  the  ministry  would  be  in  those  days  '  a  greater  cause  of 
euill  and  inconuenience '  in  the  Church  than  '  their  ample 
and  large  liuings '  were.  He  had  earlier  said  that  eligible 
women,  even  as  it  was,  were  '  loath  to  match  with  ministers/ 
since  as  widows  they  would  be  left  so  poorly  off.  Now  he 
argues  that  the  poverty  of  ministers  would  '  carry  away 
their  mindes  from  the  care  of  their  office.' 3 

Noteworthy  again  is  the  Bishop's  disavowal  of  the 
doctrine  of  Apostolic  Succession.  '  That  our  Bishops  and 
Ministers  doe  not  challenge  to  holde  by  succession,  it  is 
most  euident :  their  whole  doctrine  and  preaching  is  con- 
trary :  they  understand  and  teache  that  neither  they,  nor 
any  other  can  haue  Gods  fauour  so  annexed  and  tyed  to 
them,  but  that  if  they  leaue  their  dueties  by  Gods  worde 
prescribed,  they  must  in  his  sight  leese  [lose]  the  pre- 
heminence  of  his  Ministers,  and  bee  subiect  to  his  wrath 
and  punishment.'  4 

With  many  arguments  and  illustrations  he  explains  and 
shows  the  inevitableness  of  the  poverty  of  Christ  and  His 
Apostles.  Rich  and  poor  have  their  peculiar  dangers ;  but 
a  special  word  of  warning  is  given  against  '  the  phanaticall 
spirites  of  the  Anabaptists/  '  allowing  a  Platonicall  community 
of  al  things '  and  holding  the  doctrine  of  equality.  To 
revert  to  the  main  subject,  the  Bishop  shows  that  there 
were  many  rich  saints  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New, 
and  he  gives  a  brief  list  of  them :  Lazarus  of  BetTiania  and 
Mary  Magdalene  figure  among  the  number.  He  observes 

1  Cooper's  Admonition,  169  (Arber,  126). 

2  Ibid.  175,  176  (Arber,  130). 

3  Ibid.  150,  183  (Arber,  114,  135). 

4  Ibid.  186,  187  (Arber,  137). 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      171 

that  '  riche  Abraham  had  preheminence  in  heauen,  before 
poore  Lazarus.'  And  when  poor  priests  in  this  country 
reverted  to  the  Mass,  the  holders  of  the  greatest  liuings  not 
only  were  ready  to  go  into  exile,  but  to  shed  their  blood 
for  Christ.  [It  might  well  be  pointed  out  that  the  Bishops 
who  went  to  the  stake  had  very  different  views  as  to  the 
office  and  its  emoluments  from  Cooper  and  his  associates, 
and  also  that  a  very  large  number  of  poor  men  and  women 
were  burnt  under  Mary.] 

Undeterred  by  the  fact  that  the  character  of  Christian 
faith  and  worship  had  been  changed  four  times  in  about 
twenty  years,  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  of  the  royal 
herald,  Cooper  holds  that  God  does  not  put  divine  faith 
and  worship  and  obedience  to  the  moral  law  under  subjec- 
tion to  princes.1  Ambassadors  of  Christ  might  be  required 
to  go  forth  without  scrip  or  purse ;  that  was  to  teach  them 
to  trust  in  God.  '  Having  food  and  raiment,'  says  Paul  to 
Timothy,  '  we  should  therewith  be  content.'  And  the 
Bishop's  reply  to  the  quotation  is  after  this  fashion :  Look 
at  these  critics  ;  at  first  they  would  not  allow  us  the  posses- 
sion of  temporal  lands ;  now  they  will  not  allow  us  to  have 
a  penny  in  our  purses :  it  is  a  doctrine  that  would  well 
justify  '  the  couetous  and  uncharitable  dealings  of  many 
Parishioners.' 2  With  much  more  of  the  like  sort ;  for  no 
one  knew  better  how  to  answer  an  argument  by  running 
away  from  it  under  a  cloud  of  pious  platitudes  and  sancti- 
monious reflections  on  the  wickedness  of  the  men  who  could 
use  such  dangerous  arguments. 

He  will  allow  that  for  three  hundred  years  the  Church 
was  supported  by  voluntary  offerings ;  but  that  was  during 
a  time  of  persecution.  It  was  all  happily  changed  by 
'  Constantine,  that  good  and  first  Christian  Emperour,'  a 
list  of  whose  benefactions  and  favours  he  admiringly  gives.3 
The  Church,  indeed,  grew  wealthy  after  the  age  of  Con- 
stantine. But  its  wealth  was  not  the  cause  of  its  corrup- 

1  Cooper's  Admonition,  218,  219  (Arber,  158,  159). 

2  Ibid.  222-227  (Arber,  160-163). 

3  Ibid.  237-241  (Arber,  170-172). 


172  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

tion ;  the  real  causes  were  heresy  and  schism,  decay  of 
learning,  usurpation  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  ;  and  auxiliary 
to  these  were  the  evil  influence  and  actions  of  corrupt 
emperors  and  governors,  and  the  superstitious  devotion  of 
the  people.1 

(10)  BANCROFT'S  SERMON  AT  PAUL'S  CROSS. — Elizabeth's 
seventh  Parliament  commenced  sitting  on  February  4th, 
and  on  the  following  Sunday  Dr.  Richard  Bancroft,  sometime 
chaplain  to  Archbishop  Whitgift,  and  now  chaplain  to  Lord 
Chancellor  Hatton,  preached  at  '  the  Cross  '  a  notable  sermon. 
He  indicates  its  quasi-official  connection  with  the  assembling 
of  Parliament  in  the  title-page  of  the  printed  copy.2  It  is  set 

1  Cooper's  Admonition,  241-244  (Arber,  172-174). 

Besides  the  cancelled  phrase  already  given,  there  is  a  second  correction, 
though  not  one  of  great  moment.  Martin  threatens  a  praemunire,  and  the 
reply  in  the  earliest  edition  is,  '  The  Libeller  doth  but  dreame,  let  him  and 
his  doe  what  they  dare.'  The  word  dare  is  covered  by  a  slip  containing  the 
word  can. 

Both  the  modern  editors,  Mr.  John  Petheram  and  Prof.  Edward  Arber, 
are  a  little  in  error  in  regard  to  the  editions  of  the  Admonition. 

(1)  The  original  (containing  the  two  cancel  slips)  is  referred  to  as  having 
252  pp.  This  is  the  edition  from  which  Martin  makes  his  quotations  in 
HAY  ANY  WORKE  FOR  COOPER.  He  says,  'The  booke  is  of  252  pages' 
(Introd.  EPIS.  p.  4).  The  last  page  is  numbered  252  ;  but  the  pagination 
is  exceedingly  imperfect.  Beginning  with  page  65,  there  are  14  folios 
only  numbered  on  the  recto,  the  verso  being  unpaged.  The  actual  number 
of  pages  is  therefore  266.  There  are  other  errors  which  do  not  affect  the 
total:  69  occurs  twice  instead  of  68  and  69  ;  71  also  twice  instead  of  70 
and  71. 

(2  and  3)  Of  the  two  editions  in  the  British  Museum  it  is  difficult  to  say 
definitely  which  is  the  earlier.  They  are  both  corrected  editions,  and  both 
have  the  sentence,  '  I  will  nowe  come  to  answere  briefly  some  particular 
slanders  vttered  against  some  Bishops  and  other  by  name,'  which  is  not  found 
in  the  first  edition. 

(a)  B.M.— 701,  g.  31  ;  pp.  245  + blank  p.  This  is  the  edition  reprinted 
by  Prof.  Arber. 

(6)  B.M.— C.  37,  d.  38  ;  pp.  244.  There  are  minute  typographical 
differences  throughout  these  two  editions. 

For  the  first  216  pages  each  page  in  both  editions  contains  the  same 
amount  of  matter.  Onwards  edition  (a)  spreads  the  type  out  more  liberally 
than  edition  (6),  which  is  the  shorter  of  the  two  by  one  page.  On  the  whole, 
(6)  appears  to  me  to  be  the  more  carefully  printed  of  the  two,  and  I  should 
therefore  regard  it  as  the  later  edition.  The  original  impression  was  mani- 
festly issued  in  haste.  The  first  corrected  edition  would  also,  in  all  prob- 
ability, be  hurried  on  to  take  the  place  of  the  unfortunate  original  edition. 
The  third  edition  is  more  likely  to  have  been  got  up  at  ease  and  with  care. 

2  A  Sermon  Preached  at  Paules  Crosse  the  9.  of  Februarie,  being  the  first 
Sunday  in  the   Parleament,   Anno.    1588\9~\.   by   Richard   Bancroft   D.   of 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      173 

forth  as  an  authoritative  utterance.  In  later  years  it  has  been 
the  subject  of  special  attention  as  marking  the  first  distinct 
departure  from  the  fundamentally  evangelical  position  of  the 
original  episcopate  of  Elizabeth.  Bancroft  is  alleged  to  be 
the  first  in  the  English  Church  as  established  by  law  to  claim 
a  Divine  right  for  the  Episcopacy.  Whitgift,  who  recognised 
that  bishop  and  priest  [i.e.  elder]  are  interchangeable  titles 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  against  the  Presbyterian  Discipline, 
argued  that  the  Scriptures  countenanced  no  definite,  un- 
alterable system  of  Church  government,  could  only  say  of 
Bancroft's  high  doctrine  that  he  rather  desired  it  were  true 
than  believed  it  so  to  be.  But  the  point  here  alluded  to 
forms  no  part  of  the  main  purpose  of  the  sermon. 

The  persons  specially  addressed  by  Bancroft  are  indicated 
by  his  opening  quotation  of  Augustine's  definition  of  schis- 
matics, which  in  his  translation  runs :  Schismatikes  are  such 
as  retaining  with  us  the  true  faith :  do  separate  themselves 
from  uSy  for  orders,  or  ceremonies.  His  formal  subject  is 
'the  trial  of  the  spirits'  (1  John  iv.  1).  He  supplies  a 
list  of  false  prophets,  ancient  and  contemporary,  amongst 
the  latter  numbering  the  Arians  and  others.  Soon,  however, 
he  reveals  that  his  most  serious  antagonist  is  Martin  Mar- 
prelate.  He  indulges  himself  in  a  little  rhetorical  description 
of  schismatics,  whom  he  likens  to  painted  walls,  mermaidens, 
Helena  of  Greece,  'to  a  fish  called  the  Cuttle/  and  to  other 
things.1  Martin  would  ascribe  schism  to  the  intolerance  of 
the  Bishops ;  Bancroft,  on  the  contrary,  ascribes  it  to  the 
contempt  of  Bishops  and  a  desire  for  their  places  and 
preferments.2  Martin,  like  Aerius,  preached  the  equality 
of  Bishop  and  priest,  alleging  that  only  anti- Christian 
popes  claimed  '  superiority.5  But,  says  Bancroft,  the  great 
apologists  of  the  Church  assumed  the  episcopal  office.3 
Another  cause  of  schism  Bancroft  declares  to  be  self-love ; 
which,  quoth  Augustine,  '  did  build  the  city  of  the  divel.' 

Divinitie,  and  Chaplaine,  etc.  Wherein  some  things  are  now  added  which 
then  were  omitted,  either  through  want  of  time  or  default  of  memory. 
2  Tim.  2.  Stay  prophane  and  vaine  babblings,  for  they  will  increase  unto 
more  ungodlines.  Svo.  166  +ii.  pp.  (B.M.  693,  d.  22.) 

1  Sermon,  pp.  5,  6.  2  lUd.  pp.  14-17.  3  Ibid.  pp.  19,  20. 


174  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Henry  Niklaes,  the  founder  of  the  Family  of  Love,  calls  his 
own  book,  Evangelium  Eegni — the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom.1 
Such  also  were  the  yvcocmfcoi,,  '  ignorant  of  nothing,'  etc.2 
Covetousness  is  the  next  reason  given.  Schismatics 
Bancroft  divides  into  two  classes:  (1)  the  '  clergie  faction,' 
who  want  the  Bishops'  livings  and  Church  revenues,  and 
oppose  property  once  dedicated  to  religion,  being  ever  after 
applied  to  secular  uses ;  (2)  the  '  laie  faction,'  who  advocate 
apostolic  poverty,  and  include  the  communistic  Anabaptists. 
'  Now  deerly  beloved  unto  you  of  al  sorts,  but  especially 
you  of  the  richest,  I  praie  you  tell  me  how  you  like  this 
doctrine  ? '  If  the  '  laie  faction '  intend  to  keep  a  tight 
hold  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  spoils,  they  should  never  speak 
against  the  established  government,  unless  they  propose  to 
disgorge  '  such  spoiles  and  praies  as  they  have  already.' 3 

The  spirits  must  be  tried.  Two  extremes  there  are : 
(1)  Papists  who  forbid  the  vernacular  Scriptures,  and  would 
bind  us  to  the  Fathers,  who,  like  their  Councils,  are  often 
repugnant  one  to  another ;  (2)  '  Giddy  spirits,'  ever  seeking, 
yet  never  at  rest.  Bancroft  objects  to  unauthorised  lay 
exposition  of  the  Scriptures ;  non-professional  judgment  is 
not  regarded  in  other  branches  of  learning.  Our  creed 
should  be  those  things  'proved  and  decreed  by  so  many 
worthy  bishops.' 4  All  spirits  are  not  to  be  believed. 
Elizabeth  abolished  Popery,  and  all  the  Reformed  Churches 
rejoiced.  Now  these  Protestants  oppose  the  Communion 
Book,  notwithstanding  its  many  revisions ;  while  their  own 
book  is  so  faulty  that  it  never  even  mentions  the  civil 
magistrate.5 

Martin  would  prove  syllogistically,  that  since  our 
Prelates  are  '  petty  popes,'  they  are  '  not  to  be  tolerated  in 
a  Christian  commonwealth.'  Bancroft  applies  the  same 
reasoning  to  Elizabeth  ! 6  '  Therefore  her  Majestie,'  claiming 

1  It  is  The  Joyfull  Message  in  the  English  translation. 

2  Sermon,  pp.  21,  22.  3  Ibid.  pp.  25-29. 
4  Ibid.  pp.  33-42.  6  Ibid.  pp.  50-66. 

6  Martin  had  grounds  for  the  complaint  that  the  episcopal  controver- 
sialists took  his  figurative  speech  literally.  He  retaliates  by  taking 
Bancroft's  logic,  intended  to  be  a  redudio  ad  absurdam,  as  his  serious  view. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      175 

the  authority  formerly  exercised  by  Rome,  'is  a  petty 
pope,'  etc.1  He  defends,  upon  the  authority  of  the  leading 
men  in  Christendom,  the  reversion  to  the  Crown  of  the 
title  '  supreme  governor.'  2 

He  warns  his  hearers  by  the  example  of  Scotland. 
Even  Robert  Browne,  the  Separatist,  held  that  presbyteries 
would  be  a  greater  tyranny  than  the  established  system.3 
Continental  writers  of  the  Genevan  type,  he  shows  by 
quotation,  would  claim  for  the  people  power  to  depose  evil 
princes,  or  such  as  refuse  to  support  the  Discipline.  They 
also  deny  any  pre-eminence  in  Church  affairs  to  the  civil 
magistrate.  English  writers  are  next  decried.  T.  C.  in 
his  Second  Admonition  prophesied  '  great  troubles '  if  the 
new  order  '  be  not  provided  for.'  Udall  in  his  Demonstra- 
tion declared  that  the  presbyteries  must  prevail ;  if  '  by 
means  which,'  so  he  warns  the  Bishops,  '  will  make  your 
hearts  to  ake,  blame  yourselves.'  Martin,  'in  his  first 
booke '  '  threateneth  fists,'  and  urges  Parliament,  apart  from 
the  sovereign,  to  put  down  Lord  Bishops  and  to  bring  in  the 
looked- for  reformation.4  Bancroft  urges  that  magistrates 
should  suppress  such  spirits ;  they  would  be  fewer  had 
not  Bishops  and  men  in  authority  favoured  them.5  '  Hir 
majestic  is  depraved,  hir  authoritie  is  impugned.'  Among 
other  deplorable  things  happening,  democracy  makes  pro- 
gress ;  '  the  interest  of  the  people  in  kingdoms  is  greatly 
advanced.'  All  this,  and  '  yet  these  men  are  tolerated.' 6 
He  urges  his  hearers  not  to  believe  these  spirits.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Church  is  '  pure  and  holie ' ;  its  government 
by  Queen  and  Bishops  '  lawf  ull  and  godlie  ' ;  the  Prayer 
Book  contains  nothing  '  contrarie  to  the  word  of  God.' 7 

The  schismatics  who  condemn  the  pride  of  the  Bishops, 
Bancroft  declares,  really  aspire  to  a  loftier  pre-eminence, 
employing,  as  they  do,  the  same  arguments  for  tyrannising 
over  princes  and  people  as  are  used  by  the  Pope  for  de- 
fending his  principality.  He  again  warns  the  laity  who 
hold  expropriated  livings  that  the  Reformers  call  them 

1  Sermon,  pp.  68,  69.  2  Ibid.  pp.  69,  70.  3  Ibid.  pp.  72-77. 

*  Ibid.  pp.  78-83.     b  Ibid.  pp.  85,  86.     6  Ibid.  p.  87.     7  Ibid.  pp.  89,  90. 


i  ;6  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

cormorants,  and  would  take  away  their  plunder.  What 
the  Puritans  object  to  in  the  authorised  book  of  Common 
Prayer,  they  defend  in  their  own  book  of  Discipline.1  He 
claims  that  the  three  orders  of  the  clergy  date  from  apostolic 
times,  and  denies  that  Bishops  are  merely  ministers  of  the 
word  and  sacraments,  and  without  '  superiority.' 2  Finally, 
he  taunts  his  opponents  with  being  divided  among  them- 
selves, hinting  at  Giffard's  attack  on  Greenwood,  and 
Cartwright's  attack  on  Eobert  Browne. 

Bancroft's  sermon  called  forth  in  due  course  a  formal 
reply.3  Its  anonymous  author  says  of  it  in  the  title-page, 
'  This  Short  Answer  may  serve  for  the  clearing  of  the  truth, 
until  a  larger  confutation  of  the  Sermon  be  published/  It 
is  not  necessary  to  enter  at  large  into  its  argument.  It 
boldly  takes  up  the  position  that  the  Bishops  are  the  real 
schismatics.  It  disapproves  of  courtiers  or  great  men 
enriching  themselves  by  the  patrimony  of  the  Church,  and 
equally  of  Bishops  and  chaplains  living  on  the  robbery  of 
souls.4  Ecclesiastical  government,  it  proposes,  should  be 
exercised  by  the  Queen  directed  by  clerical  assessors,  as  in 
'  worldly  matters  '  she  is  directed  by  her  lawyers — a  proposal 
distinctly  amusing  when  we  remember  Elizabeth's  character 
and  her  cavalier  treatment  of  Bishops.  The  magistrates 
are  to  see  that  the  Church  is  cleansed  from  Popery ;  the 
principle  of  intolerance  is  frankly  admitted :  '  they  are  to 
provide  by  law  that  all  persons,  both  Ministers  and  others, 
doe  submit  themselves  without  contradiction  unto  all  such 
things  as  shall  be  godly  established  in  the  Church/  'We 
heartily  agree  with  you  that  the  people  should  avoid,  and 
the  magistrate  punish,  heretics/  The  opinion  of  Eobert 
Browne  is  despised.  He  is  a  '  noted  schismatic/ 

(11)  ACTIVITY  OF  CENSOR  AND  PURSUIVANT. — On  the 


1  Sermon,  p.  97.  2  Ibid.  pp.  99-102. 

3  A  Briefe  Discovery  of  the   Untruthes  and  Slanders  (against   the  true 
Governement  of  the  Church  of  Christ)  contained  in  a  Sermon,  preached  the 
the  8.  [sic]  of  Februarie,  1588.  by  D.  Bancroft,  etc.     56  pp.  8vo.     Dr.  Dexter 
[The  England  and  Holland  of  the  Pilgrims,  p.  170]  attributes  the  volume  to 
Penry — without  evidence  and  no  doubt  wrongly. 

4  That  is  by  their  commendams  and  pluralities. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      177 

Thursday,  following  the  delivery  of  Bancroft's  sermon  at 
Paul's  Cross,  the  Queen  issued  a  stringent  proclamation 
against  '  certain  seditious  and  euill  disposed  persons/  who 
had  secretly  published  '  schismatical  and  seditious  hookes, 
diffamatorie  Libels  and  other  fantasticall  writings  amongst 
her  Maiesties  Subiectes  .  .  .  against  the  godly  reformation 
of  Religion  and  Grouernement  Ecclesiasticall  established  by 
Lawe,  and  so  quietly  of  long  time  continued,  and  also 
against  the  persons  of  the  Bishoppes '  appointed  by  her 
authority,  '  in  rayling  sorte  and  beyond  the  boundes  of  all 
good  humanitie.'  The  tendency  of  these  books  is  declared 
to  be  to  '  bring  in  a  monstrous  and  apparaunt  dangerous 
Innouation '  and  to  '  overthrowe  her  Highnesse  lawfull 
Prerogatiue.'  All  copies  are  therefore  to  be  delivered  up 
to  the  Bishops,  and  a  solemn  warning  is  given  against  any 
who  should  be  '  so  hardie '  as  to  print  or  help  to  print  any 
books  '  of  like  nature  and  qualitie.'  Informers  are  promised 
pardon.1 

Meanwhile  the  pursuivants  were  following  up  the  traces 
of  the  Marprelate  Press,  which  they  had  tracked  to  Mrs. 
Crane's  house  at  Molesey.  On  the  Saturday  (Feb.  15th) 
of  this  same  week,  her  servant,  Nicholas  Tomkins,  was 
examined  at  Lambeth,  He  confessed  to  having  seen  the 
two  Marprelate  Tracts  then  issued.  THE  EPISTLE  he  had 
received  from  Giles  Wigginton,  or  from  Waldegrave.  THE 
EPITOME  he  states  definitely  that  he  received  from  Wiggin- 
ton, when  Wigginton  was  staying  at  his  mistress's  house. 
He  informed  the  Court  how  the  press  came  to  be  lodged  at 
Mrs.  Crane's  house  at  Molesey,  as  already  narrated  above, 
but  '  insinuated '  that  both  tracts  were  printed  in  Northamp- 
tonshire. He  knows  nothing  of  the  author,  publisher,  or 
printer ;  but  we  are  interested  at  this  early  stage  to  learn 
that  rumour  was  ascribing  the  authorship  to  '  Master  Field/ 
'  Master  Wigginton/  '  Master  Penry/  and  '  Master  Marbury 
a  Preacher.'  This  was  the  gossip  in  reforming  circles. 
Tomkins  was  liberated  011  bail.  He  was  re-examined  the 
following  November  and  corrected  a  few  details  in  his  first 

1  Cardwell's  Documentary  Annals,  ii.  18  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  109. 

N 


1 78  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

examination,  but  added  nothing  of  note  to  the  information 
already  gained.  The  following  year  it  was  found  convenient 
to  send  him  out  of  the  country — either  for  his  own  safety, 
or,  more  probably,  to  avoid  giving  further  evidence  con- 
cerning the  publication  of  the  tracts. 

(12)  THE  REMOVAL  OF  THE  PRESS  FROM  FAWSLEY  TO 
COVENTRY.  —  At  Fawsley  House,  when  Waldegrave  had 
departed  after  completing  the  printing  of  THE  EPITOME,  and 
when  the  gentleman  in  the  sky-blue  cloak  no  more  haunted 
the  grounds,  things  settled  down  into  a  state  of  security. 
Bookbinder  Sharpe  of  Northampton,  who  had  wormed  him- 
self into  the  secret  of  the  printing  and  publishing  of  the 
dangerous  pamphlets,  boldly  claimed  some  acquaintance 
with  the  great  knight  of  Fawsley,  Deputy  Lieutenant  for 
the  county,  whose  wife  was  a  Somerset.  He  questioned 
Sir  Richard  what  his  action  would  be  if  a  search  were  made 
at  Fawsley  House.  There  were  divers  persons,  including 
'  Master  Baker,  the  Officiall '  who  '  had  the  being  of  the 
Press  there  in  their  mouthes.'  Sir  Richard  replied,  '  Let 
me  alone,  ye  Knaves  durst  not  search  my  House,  yf  they  had, 
I  wo[u]lde  have  courst  them,  they  know  well  inough,  but 
now  yt  ys  gone,  and  that  danger  is  past.'1  Within  the 
House  we  have  a  glimpse  of  the  winter's  evening  spent  in 
hearing  Fox,  the  Fawsley  schoolmaster,  a  man  of  book- 
learning,  reading  aloud  the  satirical  account  of  '  John  of 
Canterbury '  to  the  high  amusement  of  his  auditory.2 

Rumour,  growing  more  persistent  and  definite,  showed 
that  the  danger  was  not  past,  as  Sir  Richard  Knightley  had 
cheerfully  supposed.  Therefore  about  the  close  of  the  year 
(the  date  is  variously  given  by  the  different  witnesses 3)  it 
was  felt  necessary  to  remove  the  printing-press  and  apparatus 
without  delay.  Valentine  Knightley,  Sir  Richard's  eldest 
son,  had  always  regretted  that  '  his  Father  suffered  any  such 
thing  about  his  Howse/  and  was  convinced  that  'it  would 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  23  (i) ;  Arber's  Sketch,  96. 

2  State  Trials,  ed.  Hargrave,  vii.  30. 

3  The  variation  extends  from  Christmas  to  a  few  days  '  after  Twelvetide ' 
—Dec.  25th  to  Jan.  9th. 


THE  MARPRELATE   PUBLICATIONS      179 

bring  his  Father  to  great  troubles.' l  Stephen  Gifford,  Sir 
Richard's  confidential  man,  and  Wastal,  a  house  servant, 
were  therefore  ordered  to  remove  the  press  to  a  farm 
belonging  to  the  estate  at  Norton,  a  few  miles  north  of 
Daventry,  where  it  lay  unused  for  several  weeks.  The 
prelatical  world  was  extremely  active  during  these  weeks. 
Besides  the  issue  and  the  correction  and  re-issue  of  their 
manifesto,  An  Admonition  to  the  People,  they  began  on  the 
first  day  of  the  year  with  an  examination  of  Henry  Barrowe. 
A  copy  of  Some's  recent  Godly  Treatise  had  been  seized, 
containing  some  outspoken  and  critical  marginalia  by 
Barrowe.  In  the  mystery  surrounding  the  Marprelate 
writings  no  stone  was  to  be  left  unturned.2  On  Jan.  9th 
we  have  an  account  of  6s.  2d.  paid  to  the  pursuivants  for  a 
two  days'  search  for  a  secret  press.  We  have  no  record 
that  they  were  successful.3  They  came  perilously  near 
finding  Martin's  press  when  they  held  their  inquiry  at 
Kingston.  Some  rumour  that  the  centre  of  interest  had 
moved  to  the  Midlands  must  have  reached  them  this  month. 
For  on  the  29th  day  the  house  of  Henry  Godley  at  North- 
ampton was  raided.  In  Penry's  study  they  discovered  a 
copy  of  Udall's  Demonstration  and  a  manuscript  reply  of 
his  own  to  Some's  book.4 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  23  (h)  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  96. 
a  Ibid.  6848,  28a. 

3  Arber's  Transcript  of  the  Stat.  Eeg.  i.  248. 

4  This  raid  is  recorded  in  Penry's  Appellation  (p.  6.     See  Arber's  Sketch, 
173).      But  hitherto  we  have  assumed  that  the  dates  inserted  in  Th'  Appel- 
lation, '  Mar.  7  '  in  the  text  and  '  1589  '  on  the  title-page,  naturally  referred 
to  Mar.  7,  1589-90.       The  important  discovery  that  the  tract  was  actually 
written,  though  not  necessarily  printed,  on  Mar.  7,  1588-89  is  due  to  the 
critical  alertness  of  Mr.  J.  Dover  Wilson,  whose  paper  on  the  subject  can  be 
seen  in  The  Library  for  October  1907.    The  determination  of  the  year  really 
rests  upon  the  references  to  the  sessions   of  Parliament  contained  in  Th' 
Appellation.      The  Parliamentary  chronology  for  the  years  in  question  is  as 
follows  : — 

1586,  Oct.  15.  Parliament  assembled. 

,,      29.  ,.  prorogued. 

1587,  Mar.  23.          ,',  dissolved. 
1589,  Feb.  24.           ,,          assembled. 

Mar.  29.          ,,  dissolved. 

"When  therefore  Penry  states  that  his  ^-Equity,  printed  at  Oxford  in  1587, 
was  presented,  and  he  in  consequence  imprisoned,  during  the  'last  Parlia- 
ment' (Th'  Appellation,  40),  it  is  clear  he  could  not  be  writing  in  March 


i8o  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Meanwhile  Penry,  on  the  search  for  a  suitable  location 
for  the  press,  was  put  into  communication  with  Master 
John  Hales,  dwelling  at  the  White  Friars  at  Coventry. 
Hales  met  Penry  '  at  a  sermon,'  and  again  there  is  talk  of 
printing  '  The  Supplication  to  the  Parliament  that  was 
printed  at  Oxford/  l  and  '  Mr.  Cartwright's  book  against  the 
Homish  [Rhemish]  Testament.'  But  the  matter  was  not  so 
casual  as  Hales  in  his  defence  tried  to  set  out.  Sir  Richard 
Knightley  had  written  him  by  the  hands  of  "Waldegrave  the 
printer '  requiring  [him]  to  suffer  this  Bearer  to  haue  roome 
in  [his]  Howse  in  Coventry  for  a  tyme,  until  he  could 
otherwise  provide.'  At  his  final  trial  Hales  protests  that 
'  he  had  great  reason,  as  he  thought,  to  gratify  Sir  Richard 
Knightley  in  any  thing,  to  whom  he  owed  much  reverence, 
as  him  that  had  married  his  Aunt.' 2  So  to  Coventry  the 
press  was  now  taken.  Stephen  Gifford  recalled,  speaking 
to  Henry  Sharpe  as  they  were  riding  over  the  scene,  the 
fright  he  had  when  crossing  Dunsmore  Heath,  between 
Dunchurch  and  Coventry.  His  cart  threatened  to  stick 
fast  in  the  gutter,  and  to  call  for  help  would  be  no  doubt  to 
make  public  the  nature  of  his  load.3 

(13)  THE  COVENTRY  PAMPHLETS. — Henry  Sharpe  made 
an  effort  to  penetrate  into  the  secret  printing-house  at  the 
White  Friars ;  but  when  Hales  and  Penry  found  he  was 
following  them  along  the  streets  of  Coventry  as  they  were 
proceeding  to  the  house,  he  was  warned  away.  We,  how- 
ever, learn  from  Sharpe  the  names  and  approximate  dates 
of  the  pamphlets  printed  at  Coventry.  First  came  the 

1589-90.  When  again  he  says  he  is  then  writing  during  the  sitting  of 
Parliament  (ibid.  7),  he  must  refer  to  the  session  Feb.  24-Mar.  29, 1588-89. 
No  Parliament  sat  during  the  years  1588  and  1590.  There  is  a  difficulty 
in  the  expression  'now  in  the  31  yeare  of  the  raigne  of  Queen  Elizabeth  ' 
which  occurs  in  the  {  Epistle  to  the  Reader '  (A  vers.).  But  Mr.  Wilson 
reasonably  suggests  that  the  Epistle  was  written  after  the  '  book. '  I  have 
in  the  same  number  of  The  Library,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  editor,  expressed 
my  acceptance  of  his  correction,  while  differing  from  him  in  the  consequent 
reconstruction  of  the  story  of  the  movements  of  Penry  and  Waldegrave 
during  the  year  1589. 

1  The  Supplication  printed  at  Coventry  was  a  new  tract.     See  above, 

p.  157,  for  the  same  misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  Sir  Richard  Knightley. 

This  would  be  Sir  Richard's  first  wife,  Mary  Fermor  of  Easton  Neston. 

3  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  2,  23  (o)  ;  State  Trials  as  above. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      181 

broadside,  commonly  known  as  the  MINERALLS,  which  was 
issued  about  Feb.  20th,  a  trifle  to  stay  the  impatience  of 
the  public  while  the  more  serious  works  were  in  hand. 
Penry  had  read  the  copy  over  to  Sharpe  before  it  went  to  the 
press,  and  that  curious  person  thought  that  he  recognised 
'  some  taunts  against  Doctor  Some  in  the  printed,  which  he 
did  not  remember  in  the  written,  Copy.'  Within  a  day  or  two 
Humfrey  Newman  appeared  at  Sharpe's  house,  whither  the 
edition  had  been  sent  from  Coventry  ;  and  leaving  fifty  copies 
behind  for  Sharpe's  benefit,  took  the  rest '  towards  London.' l 
The  actual  destination  is  evidently  withheld  from  Sharpe. 

About  the  first  week  in  March,  '  before  Midlent,'  is 
Sharpe's  recollection,  Penry's  own  pamphlet,  A  viewe  of 
some  part  of  suck  publike  wants,  whose  running  headline 
is  '  A  Supplication  vnto  the  |  High  Court  of  Parliament,'  and 
is  therefore  always  referred  to  in  these  examinations  as  The 
Supplication,  was  published.  Newman  took  the  printed 
sheets  from  Coventry  to  the  house  of  a  country  squire, 
Roger  Wigston,  living  at  Wolston  Priory.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wigston — and  the  wife  was  the  more  determined  character 
of  the  two — belonged  to  the  Throkmorton-Knightley-Hales- 
Penry  circle,  and  were  in  sympathy  with  the  '  seekers  after 
reformation.'  At  the  village  of  Wolston,  six  miles  south- 
east from  Coventry,  Newman  found  Sharpe,  staying  at  the 
house  of  his  father-in-law.  Refusing  to  fold  and  stitch  the 
pamphlets  at  the  Priory,  Sharpe  helped  Newman  to  carry 
them  to  Northampton  and  there  did  the  work.  The  edition 
consisted  of  a  thousand  copies ;  one  hundred  were  left  with 
Newman,  who  paid  Penry  for  them.  The  rest  Newman 
took  'towards  London  as  [Sharpe]  thinketh.' 

The  remainder  of  the  month  of  March  was  occupied  in 
printing  the  third  'Martin.'  It  was,  to  some  extent,  a 
reply  to  Bishop  Cooper's  Admonition,  and  bore  the  punning 
title,  HAY  ANY  WORKE  FOR  THE  COOPER.  The  press  work 
was  finished  '  about  Palm  Sunday,'  which  fell  that  year  on 
March  23rd.  Waldegrave  had  200  copies  'and  inoe' 
stitched  at  Coventry  and  despatched  direct  to  London. 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  23  (§§  p,  q,  r,  s).     [Arber's  Sketch,  97,  98.] 


1 82  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Sharpe  '  bound  up '  700  copies,  600  of  which  Newman 
took  away  with  him.  He  called  later  and  took  away  most 
of  the  remaining  hundred,  balking  Sharpe  of  his  prospect 
of  gain ;  from  which  we  gather  that  this  pamphlet  was  in 
brisk  demand.  There  was  a  lively  impatience  at  Eawsley 
to  see  it;  Steven  was  despatched  to  Coventry  a  week  too 
soon  to  get  a  copy.1 

(14)  WALDEGRAVE  RETIRES  FROM  THE  MARTINIST  PRESS. 
— The  search  for  the  secret  press  was  unremitting,  and  the 
secret  of  its  sojourn  at  Fawsley  and  Coventry  in  the  keeping 
of  too  many  people.  Sir  Richard  Knightley  sent  one  of 
his  men  with  an  early  parcel  of  the  new '  Martin '  to  his 
friend  the  Earl  of  Hertford.  But  the  demand  among  \  the 
nobility  and  attendants  at  Court  for  copies  of  the  Martinist 
satires  had  become  much  more  cautious.  The  Queen  was 
strongly  averse  to  them,  and  the  Bishops  had  not  raised  the 
bogy  of  Anabaptist  communism  in  vain.  Lord  Hertford 
told  '  his  brother '  that  '  he  liked  not  that  course  .  .  .  that 
as  they  shoote  at  Bishopps  now,  so  will  they  doe  at  the 
Nobilitie  also,  if  they  be  suffred.'  To  make  matters  worse, 
Sir  Richard's  man  met  an  acquaintance  in  London,  and  the 
pair  resorted  to  a  neighbouring  inn  to  drink  wine.  Under 
the  influence  of  good  liquor  the  Fawsley  man  became  com- 
municative, and  told  his  friend  that  the  notorious  books 
were  printed  at  his  master's  house ;  that  Martin  himself  was 
there  and  '  went  apparelled  in  green.'  He  also  told  the 
secret  of  a  spurrier  'dwellinge  aboute  Pie  Corner  neere 
West  Smithfield,'  who  acted  as  an  agent  for  the  printer, 
receiving  his  supplies  of  paper  and  other  materials  and 
despatching  them  to  Northamptonshire.2  We  do  not  know 
whether  this  drunken  tell-tale  was  Steven,  the  '  confidential 
man/  but  Sir  Richard  at  this  time  sent  Steven  out  of  the 
way  for  a  season,  '  the  search  for  these  matters  being  very 
hot/3 

Waldegrave  with  the  completion  of  HAY  ANY  WORKE 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  23  (§§  t,  v,  w)  ;  [Arber,  Sketch,  98,  99]. 
12  Lansd.  MSS.  61,  f.  68  [Arber,  Sketch,  114,  115]. 
3  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  23  (§  x)  [Arber,  Sketch,  99]. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      183 

gave  up  his  post  as  printer  to  his  Worship  Martin  Mar- 
prelate.  The  work  was  no  doubt  laborious  and  dangerous. 
With  each  fresh  publication  issuing  from  his  press,  he  was 
embittering  further  the  enmity  with  which  he  was  regarded 
by  Whitgift,  and  ever  making  it  more  impossible  that  he 
should  again  exercise  openly  the  art  and  mystery  of  his 
craft  in  England.  Besides,  his  health  was  suffering.  He 
accounts  for  his  pallor  at  this  time  by  the  closeness  with 
which  the  servant  of  Hales — ever  so  fearful  of  being  found 
out — kept  him  at  his  task.  He  likened  it  to  being  in 
prison,  of  which  he  could  speak  with  the  authority  of  much 
experience.  He  '  could  not  haue  oftentymes  warm  meate.' 
Most  important  of  all  was  that  he  found  that  all  the 
Puritan  preachers  with  whom  he  conferred  disliked  Martin's 
course.  Cartwright,  we  know,  was  emphatic  in  his  dislike 
of  such  'irregular  proceedings.'  Waldegrave  offered  this 
information  when  he  was  being  entertained  at  Wolston,  at 
the  house  of  the  father-in-law  of  Henry  Sharpe,  the 
Northampton  bookbinder.  '  The  Milne  [press]  was  not 
now  going,'  he  told  Sharpe,  '  and  he  wolde  no  longer  meddle 
or  be  a  dealer  in  this  course.'  His  intention  was  to  go  to 
Devonshire,  there  to  print  Cartwright's  reply  to  the  editors 
of  the  Rhemish  New  Testament — a  work,  however,  which 
he  was  not  able  to  print  till  the  year  1602.  Whitgift 
feared  that  Cartwright's  arguments  against  the  Rhemists 
might  with  equal  cogency  be  employed  against  his  own 
administration. 

Waldegrave  does  not  remain  long  upon  the  scene, 
having  convinced  himself  that  his  safety  lay  in  flight.  Mr. 
J.  Dover  Wilson  conjectures  that  the  Martinists  purchased 
from  him  his  Dutch  letters,  and  that  he  carried  these  with 
him  to  London  when  he  finally  left  the  Midlands.1  But  if 
the  Martinists  wished  to  issue  their  subsequent  tracts  in 
the  same  external  form  as  their  first  publications,  why  was 
so  difficult  and  dangerous  a  task  as  sending  this  heavy 
fount — in  five  sizes,  be  it  remembered — to  London  under- 
taken ?  And  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  know  that  the  type 

1  The  Library,  Oct.  1907. 


184  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

was  never  used  afterwards  by  them.  But  Waldegrave  in 
1593  printed  at  Edinburgh  a  quarto  in  black  letter,  bearing 
the  title,  '  A  Discoverie  of  the  Vnnaturall  and  traiterovs 
Conspiracie  of  Scottish  Papists.' l  He  is  reported  by  Penry, 
about  the  middle  of  May  1589,  to  be  at  the  Huguenot  city 
of  Rochelle.  If  we  may  trust  the  story  of  Matthew  Sut- 
cliffe,  he  remained  till  the  late  autumn  at  Eochelle,  and 
there  printed  M.  Some  laid  open  in  his  Coulers,  and  Penry's 
Appellation. 

(15)  JOB  THROKMORTON  OF  HASELEY  MANOR. — The  first 
move  made  by  Penry  and  Waldegrave,  when  '  the  njilne ' 
ceased  working  at  Coventry,  was  to  report  themselves  at 
Haseley  Manor.  The  hamlet  of  Haseley  lies  a  few  miles 
north-west  from  Warwick.  The  Manor-house,  an  interest- 
ing Elizabethan  dwelling,  had  been  erected  by  Clement 
Throkmorton  in  1556  ;  his  initials  and  those  of  his  wife, 
Katherine,  still  remain  carved  in  stone  on  either  side  the 
handsome  entrance  porch.  Clement  Throkmorton  was  a 
sympathiser  with  the  '  seekers  after  reformation,'  and  de- 
voutly set  in  stone  over  his  gateway  the  words,  '  Non 
habemus  hie  manentem  civitatem.'  The  lord  of  the  manor 
at  this  time  was  the  eldest  sou  of  the  builder  of  the 
transitory  '  city,'  Job  Throkmorton,  who  entered  into 
possession  on  the  death  of  Clement  at  the  close  of  the  year 
1573.  Hitherto  the  name  of  Job  Throkmorton  has  not 
appeared  in  this  controversy.  We  are  now  to  discover 
that  he  occupies  a  foremost  place  in  the  management  of  the 
secret  press,  and  as  we  proceed  with  our  investigations  we 
shall  find  that  his  personality  becomes  more  and  more 
intimately  involved  in  the  problem  of  the  authorship  of 
the  tracts,  as  well  as  in  the  practical  arrangements  for 
working  the  press.  The  Throkmortons  were  a  distinguished 
family.  Sir  George  Throkmorton  of  Coughton  was  cup- 
bearer to  his  relative  Queen  Katherine  Parr.  His  son 
Clement,  the  builder  of  Haseley  Manor-house,  showed  early 
his  theological  leanings  by  adopting  the  son  of  the  Marian 
martyr,  Thomas  Hawkes,  of  Coggeshall,  in  Essex.  Sir 

1  State  Papers,  Scotland— Eliz.  1593,  vol.  50,  No.  29. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      185 

Clement  Throgmorton,1  Elizabeth's  ambassador,  who  was 
executed  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  was  cousin  to  Job 
Throkmorton.  The  latter  entered  Parliament  when  a 
young  man  of  twenty-six,  as  member  for  East  Retford ; 
later  he  represented  the  town  of  Warwick.  Known  to  be 
an  advanced  ecclesiastical  reformer,  he  had  gained  for 
himself,  in  the  advocacy  of  his  views,  a  reputation  for 
satirical  wit.  It  was  in  his  house  that  the  Marprelate 
'  council  of  war '  met — not,  we  may  be  sure,  '  to  take  order 
for  the  distracting  [distribution]  of  HAY  ANY  WORKE.'  2 
That  had  been  amply  provided  for  by  Humfrey  Newman 
and  his  confederates  in  London.  The  question  pressing  for 
solution  was  how  to  get  printed  the  next,  and  in  design 
and  extent  the  most  important,  of  the  Marprelate  writings, 
the  title  of  which  we  early  learn  is  to  be  MORE  WORK  FOR  THE 
COOPER.  They  had  hoped  Waldegrave  would  have  printed  it. 

(16)    JOHN  HODGKINS,  THE  SECOND  MARPRELATE  PRINTER. 

— The  squire  of  Haseley  Manor,  on  Waldegrave's  final 
refusal  to  '  meddle  or  be  a  dealer  in  this  course/  com- 
missioned Newman  to  seek  a  printer  willing  to  undertake 
the  dangerous  work.  In  due  course  Newman  discovered 
just  the  man  required  in  John  Hodgkins.  This  man's  name 
does  not  appear  in  the  registers  of  those  regularly  appren- 
ticed and  granted  afterwards  the  freedom  of  the  Stationers' 
Company.  Curiously  enough  he  is  referred  to  as  a  '  salt- 
peterinan.'  We  have  evidence,  however,  that  he  was  a 
competent  printer,  and  the  probability  is  that  he  gained  his 
knowledge  of  the  craft  on  the  Continent.  Hodgkins  after 
some  delay  engaged  two  young  assistants,  Valentyne  Simms 
and  Arthur  Thomlyn,  both  regularly  licensed  printers.  To 
Simms  he  agreed  to  pay  '  xxl  a  yeare  and  meat  and  drink/ 
and  to  Tomlyn,  apparently  an  inferior  workman,  '  viijl 
and  meat  and  drink.'3  They  were  to  go  with  Hodgkins 

1  The  distinction  in  the  spelling  of  their  surname  is  observed  by  the  two 
families.  2  Matt  Sutcliffe,  Answer  to  Job  Throkmorton,  70  vers. 

3  Simms  signs  his  name  to  his  deposition,  but  Thomlyn  can  only  make  a 
mark  ;  though  Thomlyn  may  have  been  still  suffering  from  the  rack,  when 
his  deposition  was  taken.  It  is  quite  likely  that  Simms  may  have  needed 
fewer  turns  of  the  rack  to  compel  him  to  confess.  That  is  the  impression 
left  upon  our  minds  by  his  subsequent  activities. 


1 86  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

to  the  country  to  print  '  accidents/ 1  and  took  a  solemn 
'  corporal  oath '  not  to  divulge  any  of  the  secrets  concerning 
the  work  they  were  about  to  undertake.  The  printers  met 
in  London,  about  Thursday,  July  10th,  and  having  settled 
the  terms  of  employment,  they  set  out  on  foot  for  Warwick- 
shire the  same  evening.  Early  on  the  Sunday  following 
they  reached  the  village  of  Adderbury,  three  miles  south  of 
Banbury,  where  Richard  Simms,  the  father  of  Valentyne, 
lived.  Leaving  instructions  to  Simms  to  meet  hjim  next 
day  at  Warwick,  and  to  Thomlyn  to  proceed  to  Coventry  in 
the  morning,  the  hardy  Hodgkins  set  off  on  Sunday  evening 
for  Haseley,  a  walk  of  twenty-six  miles.  They  travelled  by 
night  by  choice,  to  avoid  being  seen. 

(17)  'MARTIN  JUNIOR'  AND  'MARTIN  SENIOR.' — As 
Newman  had  advised  him  on  leaving  London,  at  Haseley 
Manor  Hodgkins  found  Penry  staying  with  Throkmorton. 
To  him  he  delivered  Newman's  letter.  He  now  learnt 
that  the  press  had  been  removed  from  Coventry,  and  was  at 
Wolston  Priory,  the  residence  of  Roger  Wigston.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  printed  sheets  of  Penry's  Supplica- 
tion were  brought,  in  the  first  place,  by  Newman  from 
Coventry  to  the  Priory.  Hodgkins  was  further  told  by 
Penry  that  '  a  booke  [MS.  copy]  should  come  to  his  hands 
ready  for  the  printe.' 2  Leaving  Haseley  with  Penry  after 
dinner  on  Monday,  furnished  with  a  letter  from  Throkmorton 
to  Mistress  Wigston,  '  about  one  bird  bowe  shot  from  the 
said  Master  Throkmortons  House/  sure  enough  Hodgkins 
found  a  roll  of  paper  lying  in  the  way.  It  proved  to  be 

1  Thus,  in  the  evidence  of  Simms  and  Thomlyn  before  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor,   Henry  Sharpe  says  that  Hodgkins  invited  him  to  help  with  the 
printing  the  new  books  on  a  press  which  he  had  sent  '  into  the  North. ' 
'  If  I  want  worke  [to  be  done]  will  you  help  me  away  with  a  stamp  of 
Accidents  ? '     Sharpe   replied,   '  When    I   see  them  I  will    tell  you  more. ' 
When  apprehended  at  Manchester,  An  Almond  for  a  Parrat  says  that  the 
printers    'pretended   the   printing   of  Accidences,'   as   though   they   were 
engaged  in  printing  small  grammatical  primers.     The  probability  is  that 
accidents  is  a  disused  technical  word.     They  were  engaged  like  a  'jobbing 
printer'  to  print  anything  which  might  turn  up. — Since  writing  this  note 
we  learn,  through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  J.  D.  Wilson,  that  the  Swedes  still 
retain  the  name  '  accidenstryck  '  [tryck  =  a  stamp]  for  a  jobbing  press. 

2  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  5  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  126. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      187 

not  the  promised  MOKE  WORK  FOR  THE  COOPER,  which  was 
not  ready,  but  the  first  part  of  the  copy  of  the  THESES 
MARTINIANAE,  generally  referred  to  in  contemporary  docu- 
ments as  MARTIN  JUNIOR.  So  the  way  was  clear  to  set 
about  printing.  Proceeding  on  their  way  they  soon  reached 
Warwick,  where  Hodgkins  found  Sininis  awaiting  him.1 
By  a  cross-country  road  the  two  printers  had  now  before 
them  a  journey  of  eleven  or  twelve  miles,  over  Dunsmore 
Heath  to  the  out-of-the-way  village  of  Wolston,  east  of 
Coventry,  a  matter  of  six  miles.  Mrs.  Wigston  had  pre- 
vailed upon  her  husband  to  allow  Hodgkins  to  '  doe  a  peece 
of  work  in  his  Howse,  which  himself  saw  not.'  The  press 
had  been  many  weeks  lying  at  the  Priory,  in  '  a  low  parlour,' 
Hales  of  Coventry  having  been  nervously  anxious  to  get 
it  away  from  his  premises.  On  their  arrival  at  the  house, 
in  the  absence  of  Mrs.  Wigston,  to  whom  their  letter  of 
introduction  from  Job  Throkmorton  was  directed,  Hodgkins 
and  Simms  found  one  Mrs.  Moore  was  ready  to  receive 
them  with  a  warm  welcome,  which  they  interpreted  to 
mean  that  their  arrival  was  not  unexpected.  To  divert 
suspicion,  they  were  installed  in  the  house  as  embroiderers. 
Having  brought  Thomlyn  from  Coventry,  Hodgkins  and 
his  men  on  Tuesday,  finding  in  the  '  low  parlour '  paper, 
ink,  and  everything  they  needed,  got  to  work  at  once. 
The  same  night  they  learnt  that  Mrs.  Wigston  had 
returned,  and  the  next  morning  the  lady  came  to  give 
them  a  hearty  welcome  to  her  house.  Subsequently,  divers 
times  during  their  stay,  she  kindly  asked  them  to  excuse 
'  theyr  badd  intirtaynment ' ;  the  secret  nature  of  their 
proceedings  subjected  them,  no  doubt,  to  some  incon- 
venience. On  Thursday  a  Master  Harrison,  known  also 
by  the  alias  Bridges,  who  later  proved  to  be  Penry,  arrived 
and  welcomed  them;  and  on  Friday  another  gentleman 
appears  on  the  scene  whom  Simms  and  Thomlyn  '  since 
understand  to  be  Job  Throkmorton.'  He  also  '  badd  God 
speed  them,'  and  at  once  examined  their  work.  He  '  found 
fault  in  some  place  wth  the  orthography,'  and,  referring  to 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  4  ;  Arber,  134. 


1 88  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

some  interlineations  in  the  copy,  asked  Simms  '  yf  he  could 
read  the  sayd  place.'  Simms  was  doubtful  in  two  places, 
and  '  Master  Throkmorton  did  p'sently  read  them  distinctly 
and  readily  unto  them.'  Simms  also  overheard  him  asking 
Hodgkins,  '  softly  in  his  ear/  if  his  two  assistants  '  were 
good  workmen  and  able  to  serve  the  turn/  and  Hodgkins 
replying  'yea.'  Moreover,  learning  from  Hodgkins  that 
'  Harrison '  was  the  gentleman  who  had  guaranteed  them 
their  wages,  the  assistants  seized  the  opportunity  on  one  of 
his  visits  of  interviewing  him  on  the  subject.  They  re- 
ceived the  necessary  assurance  on  condition  that '  they  would 
be  faithfull  unto  Hodgkins.'  On  the  same  occasion  Simms 
'  agayne  renewed  his  oath  for  his  secrecy.' 

With  the  arrival  of  Throkmorton  the  printers  obtained 
possession  of  the  remainder  of  the  copy  of  MARTIN  JUNIOR, 
which  they  finished  printing  on  the  Monday  in  the  follow- 
ing week.  The  Epilogue  to  the  tract  is  dated  the  next  day 
— July  22nd.  Newman,  who  arrived  on  the  scene  in  an- 
ticipation of  it  being  ready,  respectfully  presented  the  first 
copy  to  the  lady  of  the  house.  Sirnms  and  Thomlyn  had 
been  told  by  Hodgkin,  the  Friday  before,  that  the  larger 
tract  not  yet  being  ready,  to  keep  them  employed  they 
would  be  given  the  copy  of  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND  RE- 
PROOFE,  otherwise  MARTIN  SENIOR  ;  which  they  now  received 
and  began  forthwith  to  set  up.  They  noted  that  it  was  in 
the  same  handwriting.  Meanwhile  Henry  Sharpe,  having 
found  it  prudent  to  leave  Northampton  and  to  stay  with 
his  father-in-law  at  Wolston,  was  induced  to  help.  He 
was  quartered  at  the  Priory  in  a  bedroom,  and  there  folded 
and  stitched  the  edition.  Newman  then  trudged  off  to 
London  with  '  at  the  least  700  or  800  copies/  says  Sharpe, 
who  was  always  counting  enviously  the  profit  which  others 
were  getting  from  this  contraband  traffic. 

On  Tuesday  in  the  next  week — July  29th — the  printers 
finished  MARTIN  SENIOR,  the  sheets  of  which  were  also  made 
up  by  Sharpe.  In  this  case  the  copies  were  packed  into  a 
bundle  purporting  to  be  leather,  to  be  despatched  by  the 
Warwick  carrier  to  Banbury  and  thence  to  London. 


THE  MARFRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      189 

Lawrence  Wood,  'a  Taylor  dwelling  in  the  end  of  Fish 
Street,'  stated  in  examination  that  Newman  told  him  that 
'a  Packe  of  Leather/  which  he  knew  to  be  'a  Packe  of 
Books/  was  lying  '  at  the  Sarazins  Head  in  Friday  Street ' 
— a  narrow  thoroughfare  running  south  from  Cheapside 
across  Cannon  Street.  Newman  gave  him  five  shillings  for 
its  carriage,  and  sixpence  to  pay  a  porter  to  carry  it  to  the 
Tilted  Yard,  near  Whitehall.1 

(18)  THE  CATASTROPHE  AT  MANCHESTER. — For  prudent 
reasons  Hodgkins,  who  had  been  led  to  find  in  an  empty 
room  at  the  Priory  the  desired  copy  of  MORE  WORK  FOR 
THE  COOPER — it  was  only  the  first  part,  and  about  a  third 
of  the  complete  volume  of  this  substantial  pamphlet,  as  we 
learn  later — determined  not  to  remain  any  longer  at 
Wolston,  although  pressed  by  Mrs.  Wigston  to  stay  to 
print  the  new  tract.  He  had  some  reasons  to  fear  that 
they  would  be  taken  if  they  tarried  longer.  Therefore,  as 
soon  as  the  last  sheet  left  the  press,  he  ordered  his  men  to 
take  it  down  and  to  pack  up  the  type  in  boxes,  he  in  the 
meantime  obtaining  a  cart  and  a  teamster.  Under  a  load 
of  hay  or  straw  they  stowed  away  press,  '  three  payre  of 
cases  wth  lettres  of  three  sorts/  the  remainder  of  the  ink, 
and  about  '  twelve  ream  of  pap(er).'  That  same  night  they 
were  on  their  way  to  '  Warrington  in  Lancashire/  On 
parting,  the  good-hearted  Mrs.  Wigston  gave  the  men  each 
half-a-crown ;  and  her  husband,  though  reported  to  have 
been  very  angry  when  he  discovered  what  was  being  done 
under  his  roof,  so  far  relented  that  he  gave  them  two 
shillings. 

The  three  men  reached  Warrington  on  the  following 
Friday,  having  travelled  on  foot.  The  cart  with  the 
printing  apparatus  appeared  three  days  later,  on  the 
Monday.  But  here  a  fatal  accident  befell  them.  As  they 
were  unloading  the  '  stuff/  some  of  the  type  fell  out  of  the 
boxes  and  strewed  the  ground.  The  curious  crowd  that 
gathered  to  see  what  was  going  on,  '  marvayling  what  they 

1  Harl.  MSS.  7042,   23  (ii.),  10  [Arber's  Sketch,  103,  131.     The  latter 
reference  gives  the  true  account.     Sharpe's  hearsay  is  commonly  incorrect]. 


1 9o  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

should  be,'  were  promptly  assured  by  Hodgkins  that  '  they 
were  shott.'  By  his  directions  also  Simms  and  Thomlyn 
'  tearmed  themselves  ...  to  be  saltpeter  men.'  Some  of 
those  who  stood  by  must  have  gained  possession  of  a 
specimen  or  two  of  this  curious  shot,  and  no  doubt  found 
in  Warrington  a  person  sufficiently  well  informed  to  explain 
that  they  were  printers'  type,  and  to  arouse  suspicion  by 
explaining  that  printing  was  a  prohibited  craft  outside 
London  and  the  universities.  The  indefatigable  Hodgkins 
without  delay  found  a  place  to  accommodate  his  press  in 
Newton  Lane,  '  a  mile  fro  Manchester ' ;  and  thither  the 
two  assistants  were  despatched  in  haste  to  set  up  their 
cases.  On  the  Monday  all  their  materials  arrived,  and 
forthwith  they  began  to  set  up  the  press.  By  Thursday, 
August  14th,  they  were  so  far  advanced  with  their  work 
that  they  began  striking  off  the  first  sheet  of  MORE  WORK. 
After  working  three  hours  they  had  printed  '  about  six 
quires  of  one  side '  when  the  work  was  suddenly  brought  to 
an  end.  Suddenly,  officers  of  the  law  appeared  and  seized 
the  *  copy '  they  had  in  hand  as  well  as  the  printed  sheets. 
The  printers  were  marched  off  to  a  temporary  prison  until 
the  sheriff's  men  could  communicate  with  the  Earl  of  Derby. 
The  Earl  examined  them  the  next  day,  or  not  later  than 
Saturday,  and  recognising  that  he  had  discovered  the  great 
secret  of  Marprelate's  press,  he  determined  to  send  them, 
without  delay,  in  custody  to  London.  Not  later  than  the 
Monday  following,  in  charge  of  the  Earl's  men,  they  left 
Manchester  on  horseback,  and  arrived  at  London  at  the  end 
of  the  week.  Hodgkins,  notwithstanding  the  strict  surveil- 
lance under  which  they  travelled,  managed  to  get  a  few 
words  now  and  then  with  his  men.  He  exhorted  them  to 
be  steadfast ;  to  remember  their  oath ;  not  to  divulge  the 
names  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wigston,  even  though  they  should 
die  for  it ;  promising  them  meat  and  drink  and  payment  at 
the  same  rate  of  wages  which  they  had  been  receiving, 
during  the  time  of  their  imprisonment ;  cheering  them  up 
with  the  prospect  of  future  work  in  Ireland ;  reminding 
them  that  they  had  a  second  copy  of  the  MS.  of  MORE 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      191 

WORK;  two  sorts  of  type  'at  a  marchaunts  howse  in 
London'  which  were  bought  of  Waldegrave;  a  press  at 
Mr.  Wigton's  (there  must  have  been  two  presses  there 
before  they  left  for  Manchester),  and  '  some  letters.' * 

Thus  the  unhappy  men  fared  towards  London.  They 
reached  the  city  on  Saturday,  August  23rd,  and  were 
lodged  in  some  sheriff's  compter,  or  lock  -  up,  awaiting 
further  instructions.  The  authorities  were  quick  to  see 
the  importance  of  the  capture  of  the  printers  and  the 
manuscript  of  the  long-promised  and  doubtless  much-feared 
MORE  WORK  FOR  THE  COOPER.  Next  day,  Sunday  though 
it  was,  the  Privy  Council  was  hastily  summoned,  and  orders 
sent  to  the  masters  of  Bridewell  to  receive  and  keep  the 
printers  '  close  prisoners,'  as  is  more  fully  narrated  below.2 

(19)  THE  LAST  'MARTIN.' — We  must  for  the  moment 
leave  the  prisoners  to  their  harsh  fate,  that  we  may  record 
the  appearance  of  the  seventh  and  last  of  the  published 
'Martins.'  For  even  in  this  extremity  one  more  of  the 
redoubtable  tracts,  a  true  successor  to  the  black-letter  tracts, 
was  printed,  though  with  increasing  difficulty,  as  we  cannot 
help  discovering.  The  seizure  of  the  printers  and  the  Mar- 
prelate  manuscript  was  the  first  serious  blow  sustained  by 
the  secret  press.  It  was  a  daring  move  to  take  flight  into 
Lancashire,  and  might  have  secured  a  long  and  safe  hiding- 
place  for  the  printers  but  for  the  fateful  spilling  of  the  type 
at  Warrington.  But  at  this  fierce  and  determined  stage  in 
the  hue  and  cry,  when  men  knew  what  it  meant  to  be 
found  possessing  a  copy  of  one  of  the  pamphlets,  much 
more  to  be  concerned  in  its  production,  the  gravity  of  the 
situation  could  not  be  misunderstood.  How  much  would 
the  printers  betray  of  the  working  of  the  secret  machine  ? 
Hodgkins  was  a  staunch  man,  not  easily  terrified.  Sirnms 
and  Thomlyn  were  only  told  what  was  necessary.  They 
had  not  been  introduced  to  Haseley,  had  not  heard  the  name 

1  For  the  history  of  the  secret  press  while  under  the  management  of  John 
Hodgkins,   except  where  special  references  are  given    above,   see    the    last 
examination  of  Simtns  and  Thomlyn  before  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Manchester 
Papers,  No.  123,  printed  as  an  Appendix  to  the  present  volume. 

2  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  No.  54,  under  date. 


192  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

of  Throkmorton.  They  had  once  seen  him  at  Wolston ; 
where  also  they  met  Master  Harrison,  otherwise  Penry. 
Every  avenue,  however,  was  watched ;  the  censorship  was 
as  rigorous  as  the  implacable  wrath  of  the  Bishops  could 
make  it.  The  pursuivants  had  a  general  authority  to  arrest 
any  person  on  suspicion.  In  his  JUST  CENSURE  l  Martin 
explains  some  of  the  methods  used  by  this  body  of  de- 
tectives ;  how  they  sauntered  into  the  bookseller's  shop 
in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  and  entered  into  conversation 
with  any  stranger  they  should  meet.  Their  instructions 
were  to  commend  Martin  (Bancroft's  policy,  beyond  a 
doubt),  show  a  copy  of  the  recently  issued  THESES,  then 
hint  that  Boyle,  the  bookseller,  dealt  in  this  literature 
among  his  friends.  These  agents  provocateurs  were  to  fre- 
quent the  places  of  worship  most  favoured  by  the  Puritans 
of  the  extremer  sort,  and  to  lead  them  into  compromising 
statements.  The  inns,  and  the  carriers  from  the  country 
resting  at  them,  were  to  be  closely  watched — the  pursui- 
vants had  authority  to  examine  all  their  packs.  Spies 
were  even  to  enter  the  precincts  of  the  Court  to  ascertain 
who  among  the  highly  favoured  ones  were  the  dispensers  of 
the  tracts.  The  country  towns  from  Devonshire  to  '  the 
North  parts,'  were  to  be  searched,  especially  the  counties  of 
Warwick  and  Northampton.  So  that  the  situation  was 
clearly  critical,  and  indicated  that  the  literary  activities  of 
his  Worship,  Martin  Marprelate,  had  come  to  a  necessary 
end. 

The  first  to  receive  news  of  the  arrest  and  seizure  was 
Throkmorton.  He  summoned  to  Haseley  Penry,  then  stay- 
ing with  the  Wigstons  at  Wolston.  The  resolution  the 
friends  arrived  at  was  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  daring 
which  marked  the  whole  of  their  adventure.  They  combined, 
in  very  defiance  of  Whitgift,  to  write  another  short  tract, 
partly  consisting  of  a  fresh  statement  of  their  case  and  of  their 
determined  attitude  of  mind.  It  also  contained  a  brief 
summary  of  the  contents  of  the  Manchester  tract,  MORE 
WORK — of  special  interest  as  the  only  information  we  have 

1  Sig.  A  iii.  vers.  et  seq. 


THE  PROTESTATYON 

OF  MA*TIN  MARPR1LAT 

Wherin  not  wih  (landing  the  fur- 
prizing  of the  printer,  he  maketh  it 
xnown  vnto  the  world  that  he  fear 
cth  3  neither  proud  pricft ,  Antichti 
fUanpope^tiranous  pcllate,nor 
godleflecatercap :  but  defie;he3ll 
the  race  of  them  by  thefc  pufcnts 

and  offereth  conditionally  ,  asis 
fartherc  exprcfled  hearin  ty  open 
difputationtoapear  in  the  defence 

of  his  caufaginft  them  and 
theirs 

Which  chaleng  if  they  dare  not 
wafntaine  aginit    him :  then  doth  he  aU 
fbepublifhc  thathenetcr  meaneth  by 
the  affitau  nee  of  god  to  leane  the  a  flay  k 
ing  of  them  and  thcire  generation  vn» 
till  theybevterlyextinguifcd 
out  of  our  church 


by  *l>*  w*rthtf£e*t/e9fM»  D  wutrn  m*r 
D    rn  /J'th  *  facrt/ttfjfr****  *** 


TITLE-PAGE  OF   />//    PROTESTATYON,  THE  LAST  MAKI-KKLATK  TRACT. 

Same  size  us  original. 


THE  MARPRELATE  PUBLICATIONS      193 

on  that  point.  How  to  print  the  new  work  was  the 
question.  They  had  a  press  lying  at  Wolston,  and  thither 
they  departed  when  the  '  copy '  was  ready.  Mrs.  Wigston 
was  of  a  more  daring  spirit  than  most  of  those  who  had 
sheltered  the  travelling  press.  One  James  Meadows  had 
brought  them  from  London  a  parcel  of  ink.  Both  Penry 
and  Throkmorton,  the  former  especially,  had  seen  much  of 
the  methods  of  printers  during  the  previous  twelve  months, 
and  thought  they  might  set  up  the  type.  The  type  they 
employed  was  that  used  in  the  '  Epistle  to  the  Reader '  in 
THESES  ;  also  earlier  in  Udall's  Diotrephes.  It  was  one  of 
the  two  kinds  of  type,  probably,  which  Hodgkins  mentioned 
on  his  journey  from  Manchester  as  having  been  bought 
from  Waldegrave,  and  then  lying  at  a  merchant's  in 
London.  So  they  set-to,  and  after  a  fashion  succeeded  in 
composing  and  printing  off  a  half-sheet.  But  the  art  and 
mystery  of  the  printer  was  not  so  simple  as  it  seemed 
when  they  had  watched  Waldegrave  or  Hodgkins  rapidly 
and  easily  filling  his  'stick'  and  composing  his  'formes.' 
They  were  working  also  in  haste,  for  besides  being  other- 
wise imperfect,  the  imprint  is  full  of  uncorrected  '  literals.' 
At  this  juncture  help  came  to  them.  Newman  was  still 
at  large,  and  may  have  secured  a  printer  for  them.  An 
assistant  of  Waldegrave's  who  fell  ill  at  Fawsley  is  not 
accounted  for  among  those  who  were  in  custody ;  he  may 
have  been  the  very  James  Meadows  who  brought  the  ink 
to  Haseley.  In  any  case,  the  rest  of  the  tract  is  the  work 
of  a  moderately  competent  journeyman.1  This  last  '  Martin ' 

1  The  merit  in  noting  the  difference  in  the  setting-up  of  this  tract  after 
the  first  half-sheet,  and  the  significance  of  the  circumstance  as  a  revelation 
of  the  difficulties  attending  its  production  belongs  to  Mr.  J.  Dover  Wilson. 
See  his  article  in  The  Library  for  October  1907  (also  p.  179  above).  I  have 
been  permitted  to  state  my  difficulty  in  accepting  Mr.  Wilson's  suggestion, 
based  upon  the  peculiarity  of  the  signatures  employed  by  the  printer  of  the 
PBOTESTATYON,  that  Waldegrave  was  himself  the  printer  who  came  to  the 
assistance  of  Penry  and  Throkmorton.  In  coming  to  a  conclusion  upon  the 
question,  the  reasons  which  prompted  Waldegrave  to  relinquish  the  Mar- 
prelate  press  have  to  be  considered  (see  above,  p.  182)  as  well  as  the  con- 
sistent co-ordination  of  Waldegrave's  movements.  Nor  is  it,  in  my  judgment, 
at  all  clear  that  the  work  of  the  printer  who  came  to  the  help  of  Penry  and 
Throkmorton  is  equal  to  that  of  Waldegrave,  who  was  an  excellent  craftsman 

0 


I94  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

bears  the  title,  THE  PROTESTATYON  OF  MARTIN  MARPRELAT, 
which  is  expanded  into  the  following  brief  paragraph : 
'  Wherin  not  wi\f\h  standing  the  surprizing  of  the  printer,  he 
maketh  it  known  vnto  the  world  that  he  feareth  neither  proud 
priest,  Antichristian  pope,  tiranous  prellate  nor  godlesse  eater- 
cap  :  but  deftethe  all  the  race  of  them  ly  these  presents ' — and 
so  forth.  The  tract  is  a  small  octavo  of  32  pages. 

In  addition  to  the  writing  and  printing  of  THE 
PROTESTATYON,  Penry  and  Throkmorton  had  also  to  con- 
sider the  miserable  case  of  Hodgkins  and  his  two  men. 
Martin  fears  that  '  our  wicked  priests '  will  do  that  against 
them  which  '  neither  the  Word  of  God  doth  warrant  nor 
law  of  the  land  permit.' *  Their  fears  that  the  men  would 
be  illegally  put  to  the  torture  we  shall  find  to  be  well 
founded.  All  that  could  be  done  for  them  was  to  supply 
them  with  sound  legal  advice.  '  We  follow  the  instructions 
of  learned  counsellors  in  these  matters/  said  Giles  Wigginton 
to  the  Archbishop,  when  examined  before  him  at  Lambeth 
the  previous  December.2  Throkmorton  himself  must  have 
had  considerable  legal  knowledge ;  though  we  have  not  been 
able  to  find  his  name  in  any  of  the  published  registers  of 
the  Inns  of  Court.  The  author  of  the  exceedingly  learned 
and  able  Petition  directed  to  H.  Maiestie  may  have  been 
available.  Morrice  and  Beale,  both  holding  official  posi- 
tions, both  sound  constitutional  lawyers  and  incorruptible 
patriots,  were  certain  to  have  helped  the  'seekers  after 
reformation.'  So  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  when  we 
come  to  John  Hodgkins'  defence  to  find  him  so  well  posted 
in  every  legal  plea  that  could  be  alleged  for  his  defence. 
But  there  was  no  law  in  England  at  this  time  for  ecclesi- 
astical offenders,  except  the  caprice  of  Elizabeth,  and  what 
the  reformers  called  '  the  filthy  canon  law  of  the  Bishops.' 

though  somewhat  deliberate  in  his  movements,  as  we  gather.  For  proof  of 
this,  reference  may  be  made  to  the  repetition  and  confusion  on  pages  sig.  C  2 
vers.  and  C  3  ;  also  the  frequency  of  '  literals '  and  the  occasional  crooked 
lines.  See,  for  instance,  pp.  20  (1.  5),  21  (1.  6  from  bottom),  25  (1.  6),  28 
(1.  5),  31  (1.  3  from  bottom). 

1  PROTESTATYON,  3. 

2  Second  Parte  of  a  Register  (MS.),  846. 


THE   MARPRELATE   PUBLICATIONS      195 

It  burned  like  a  coal  of  fire  in  their  souls,  that  against 
the  express  declaration  of  the  Statute  this  '  pope's  law ' 
should  override  the  law  and  constitution  of  the  realm.1 

1  We  have  called  the  PROTESTATYON  the  last  of  the  'Martins.'  But 
Matt.  Sutcliffe,  in  his  Answ.  to  Job  Throk.,  accuses  him  of  being  the  author 
of  other  and  later  tracts,  copies  of  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  do  not  exist 
to-day.  Sutcliffe  says,  '  I  have  seen  a  little  pamphlet  entitled  Martins 
Interim  ...  a  book  full  of  railing  and  ribaldry,  of  cursing,  slander,  and 
impiety.  The  title  doth  show  the  humour  of  the  Author,  for  he  calleth  it 
Martins  interim  or  a,  briefe  Pistle  to  the  cursed  Prelates  and  clergy.  In  his 
preface  he  calleth  them  "proud,"  "Popish  and  tyrannical  Rabbis."  In  the 
beginning  of  his  Letter  he  calleth  them  "an  ungodly  swarm  of  caterpillars," 
"incarnate  divels,"  and  "a hellish  rabble."  But  of  this  kitchen  rhetoric  I 
have  given  you  a  taste  before.'  He  also  mentions  '  another  little  book  called 
The  crops  and  flowers  of  Bridges  garden.'  Concerning  the  first,  Sutcliffe 
says  there  is  the  evidence  of  Throkmorton's  handwriting  to  prove  his  author- 
ship. As  to  the  second  it  was  given  to  Newman  to  recompense  him  for  his 
poorly  paid  labours.  Afterwards  James  Meadows  shared  by  arrangement  in 
the  profits  from  its  sale.  Meadows  took  it  to  Middleburgh  in  Zeeland  to  get 
it  printed.  But  we  need  a  more  direct  evidence  to  be  sure  that  these  books 
were  by  Throkinorton.  It  would  have  been  no  strange  thing  to  find  men 
imitating  Martin's  style,  and  the  easier  part  of  the  imitator's  task  would 
be  to  call  the  , Bishops  'incarnate  divels,'  etc.  See  Sutcliffe's  Answer,  etc., 
72  rect.  and  vers. ;  Arber's  Sketch,  180. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   EPISCOPAL   ANTI-MAETINIST   POLICY 

Section  I. — The  Persecution  of  the  Confederates 

1.  The  Examination  of  the  Printers, — We  may  be  sure  that 
no  time  was  lost  in  despatching  an  express  rider  to  tell 
Whitgift,  at  that  time  at  Canterbury  holding  his  visitation, 
the  good  news  of  the  seizure  of  the  printers  and  their  press. 
On  the  Sunday  he  despatched  a  letter  to  his  '  verie  good 
Lord,'  the  Lord  Treasurer,  acknowledging  that  the  news  had 
reached  him,  observing  also  that  the  type  seized,  being  the 
same  as  that  used  in  printing  '  Marten  Junior  and  Marten 
senior  as  they  terme  them  selfs/  he  is  confident  that  'the 
author  of  those  vnchristian  Libles  may  by  them  be  detected.' 
He  assures  himself  that  the  prisoners  '  shalbe  Delt  with 
acording  to  there  Desertes,  and  the  qualitie  of  there  offens,' 
adding  with  his  usual  astuteness,  '  And  that  rather  by  your 
Lordships  than  by  owre  selfs.'  He  wants  the  world  to  know 
that  the  Bishops  are  not  'abjects'  and  merit  justice  as 
other  men.1 

Whitgift's  puppet,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  had  already,  as 
we  have  seen,  taken  prompt  steps  in  dealing  with  the 
obnoxious  prisoners.  This  same  Sunday  a  Privy  Council 

1  Lands.  MSS.  61,  3  [Arber's  Sketch,  112  f.].  Dr.  Arber,  no  doubt 
following  Strype  [see  Whitg.  i.  601],  slightly  misdescribes  Whitgift's  letter, 
as  a  '  report  '  of  the  seizure  of  the  printers — '  to  give  the  Lord  Treasurer 
notice  of  it,'  says  Strype, — whereas  Whitgift  says  he  understands  that  '  the 
printers  ...  are  sent  vp  by  your  Lordships.'  As  the  Acts  of  the  Privy 
Council  show,  and  as  narrated  above,  Burleigh  and  the  other  members  of 
the  Council  met  on  the  same  day,  Sunday,  Aug.  24th,  to  deal  with  the 
matter. 

196 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST   POLICY      197 

meeting  was  held  consisting  of  himself,  the  Lord  Treasurer, 
the  Lord  Admiral,  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  and  Mr.  Wolley. 
They  at  once  instructed  the  Masters  of  Bridewell  to  receive 
the  three  printers  as  '  close  prisoners  till  their  L'ships  other- 
wise direct.'  They  next  authorise  *  Mr.  Fortescue  esquier, 
Master  of  the  Wardrobe,  Mr.  Eookesley,  Master  of  St. 
Katherine,  Mr.  Eecorder  of  London,'  to  deal  with  the 
printers  in  the  manner  they  think  best.  If  Fortescue  is 
absent,  '  Eich.  Young,  the  Customer  [officer  of  Customs],' 
may  be  called  to  their  aid.  Hodgkins  is  described  as  'the 
principall  man  and  by  whom  the  other  two  were  hyered.' 
It  would  appear  that  all  three  had  been  examined  '  by  the 
Erie  [of  Derby]  and  by  the  Lordships/  but  had  confessed 
nothing.  If  the  magistrates,  when  they  go  to  Bridewell, 
find  that  they  still  refuse  to  confess,  they  are  all  three  to  be 
put  to  the  torture.  Upon  notice  of  obstinacy  they  are  to  be 
removed  to  the  Tower,  where  the  torture  was  usually 
applied.1 

2.  On  the  Rack.  —  The  result  of  the  examination  of 
Hodgkins  and  his  men  was  not  satisfactory  to  the  authori- 
ties. The  printers  appeared  to  be  singularly  ignorant  of 
information  concerning  the  origin  of  the  tracts.  Simms 
and  Thomlyn  referred  themselves  to  Hodgkins  ;  they  were 
simply  employed  by  him.  Hodgkins  was  one  of  the  most 
stubborn  witnesses  the  High  Commission  had  to  deal  with. 
The  authorities,  however,  were  in  no  mind  to  be  baffled 
in  this  fashion.  A  chance  sheet  of  paper  has  survived 
which  purports  to  be  {  from  Hir  Matie>.'  It  is  a  '  Eemem- 
berance  too  my  L[ord]  Treasurer  the  second  of  Sept.  1589.' 
Among  several  miscellaneous  memoranda  it  contains  this : 
'Item:  the  examynacon of  marten  marp'late  toe  be  thoroughlye 
persevered  in.'2  Accordingly  we  find  that  about  the  llth 
of  September  Hodgkins  is  in  the  Tower.3  Sterner  means, 
if  illegal,  were  to  be  employed  to  compel  him  to  '  bolt  out ' 

1  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  under  date  Aug.  24,  1589. 

2  S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz.  226. 

3  On  Oct.    23rd    Sir    0.   Hopton  reports   '  John   Hodgkins  prisonnr  vi 
weeks  comitted  about  the  imprinting  of  Martin  Marprelate.'     S.  P.  Dom. 
Eliz.  227  (37). 


198  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

what  he  knew  of  this  secret  affair.  So  he  was  put  to  the 
torture,  on  how  many  occasions  we  know  not,  during  the 
next  six  weeks.  He  was  then  transferred  to  the  Mar- 
shalsea.  Simms  and  Thomlyn  were  put  to  a  similar  treat- 
ment, and  no  doubt  divulged  reluctantly  all  they  knew. 

Upon  his  first  following  examination  Hodgkins  appealed 
to  her  Majesty's  mercy.  But  when  the  Court  urged  against 
him  the  indictment,  containing  ten  points,  their  substance 
being  a  '  matter  of  sediccon  and  slaunder  to  her  matie  and 
the  state,'  then  he  stood  very  boldly  to  his  defence.  He 
justified  the  '  said  booke ' — THESES  MARTINIANAE — so  far  as 
to  affirm  that  '  nothinge  therein  contained]  was  reprochefull 
or  slaunderous  to  her  matie  or  the  state.'  This  he  urged 
'  untill  at  the  length  beinge  therein  notable  convinced ' ; 
that  is,  of  course,  till  he  saw  he  could  not  convince  his 
judges.  Then  he  moved  to  his  next  line  of  defence  and 
'  p[ro]teeted  that  he  knewe  not  the  authors  meaninge 
therein ' ;  denying,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  that  he 
had  'anie  such  malicious  intent  against  her  matie  or  the 
state.'  But  he  was  told  that  it  was  not  his  intent  but 
the  fact  which  declared  his  mind.  '  The  matters  in  the 
booke '  were  '  sedicious,  turbulent  and  rebellious,'  and 
therefore  '  wthin  compase  of  fellonie ' ;  by  the  express 
words  of  the  law  the  printer  was  guilty  'in  the  same 
degree  of  fellonie  as  the  deviser.'  Hodgkins  in  vain 
'  uppon  his  innocencie  herein  much  insested.' 

Finding  his  pleas  all  in  vain,  Hodgkins  now  '  vehemently 
urged  and  claimed  the  benefit  of  a  certaine  p[ro]mise  in 
the  said  statut.'  The  accused  '  must  be  manifestly  con- 
vinced [convicted]  by  twoe  witnesses,  p[ro]duced  viua 
voce,  and  that  wthin  one  moneth  after  the  fact  before  on 
Justice  of  peace ' ;  or  failing  that,  he  '  must  be  indicted 
thereof  wthin  one  yeare  next  after  the  offence/  The  wit- 
nesses were  not  produced,  and  it  was  more  than  one  year 
'  since  the  first  impression.' 1  The  ingenious  lawyers  met 

1  This  alludes  to  the  publication  of  the  first  tract,  THE  EPISTLE,  printed 
not  by  Hodgkins  but  by  Waldegrave.  As  to  the  exactness  of  Hodgkins' 
computation,  he  was  probably  supplied  with  his  legal  pleas  by  Throk- 
morton.  To  make  up  his  year,  he  must  have  come  to  a  very  close  reckon- 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY      199 

his  shrewd  argument  by  pointing  out  that  the  relief  was 
only  offered  to  '  those  offend  [ing]  by  speaking  and  report- 
inge ' ;  but  did  not  include  printers  and  writers. 

Hodgkins  next  made  a  protest  which  is  valuable  as 
showing  us  what  had  been  the  fate  of  Simms  and  Thomlyn. 
They  too  had  been  put  upon  the  rack,  but  had  succumbed 
to  the  agony  of  the  treatment.  Their  confessions,  said 
Hodgkins,  '  had  bene  violently]  extorted  from  them/  Of 
what  worth  were  they  ?  As  to  his  own  confession,  '  he 
was  forced  thereunto  by  rackinge  and  great  torments.' 
Upon  which  Justice  Gandy  said  he  was  using  them  very 
shamefully,  since  all  they  got  by  their  torments  was  the 
repetition  of  what  he  had  voluntarily  told  them, — that  he 
was  '  the  printer  of  the  said  booke.' 

Lastly,  he  tried  them  with  his  confession  of  faith.  '  He 
acknowledged  the  degree  of  Bishoppes,  but  not  of  Lor[d] 
Bishoppes,  Archbishoppes.' 1  Perhaps  they  thought  this 
bare  shank-bone  confession  was  merely  poking  satirical  fun 
at  them.  However,  they  would  none  of  it ;  and,  as  we 
knew  in  the  beginning,  would,  by  their  gratuitous  con- 
struction, find  the  THESES  to  be  seditious  and  Hodgkins 
guilty.  Then  '  in  verie  submise  manner '  he  yielded  his 
former  pleas  and  'humblie  praied  the  L[ordships]  for  his 
life,'  and  for  their  good  offices  in  soliciting  her  Majesty's 
favour.2 

The  sum  of  Hodgkins'  confessions  was  too  insignificant 
to  find  favour  with  the  authorities.  They  transferred  him 
for  the  present  to  the  Marsh alsea ;  but  they  had  not  given 
up  hope  of  wringing  out  of  him  by  physical  torment  the 
supreme  secret  which  they  were  convinced  he  knew ;  though 
in  this  they  were  probably  mistaken.  Had  he  desired,  he 
could  probably  only  have  given  his  strong  conjecture.  Back 
to  the  Tower,  however,  the  poor  man  was  taken,  and  the 

ing.  In  any  case,  his  judges  could  not  contradict  him.  His  plea  agrees 
very  nearly  with  our  own  deductions  from  other  premises  as  to  the  date  of 
THE  EPISTLE. 

1  The  declaration  of  Hodgkins'  personal  interest  in  the  controversy  is  not 
to  be  overlooked. 

2  Yelverton  MSS.  70,  146.      "We  print  this  valuable  document  in  tho 
Appendix. 


200  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

assumption  is  that  their  cruelty  was  fruitless.  They  could 
not  even  justify  themselves  by  the  results  they  had  gained. 
On  July  8th  the  following  year,  1590,  we  have  a  Star 
Chamber  order  to  the  new  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  Michael 
Blunt,  to  hand  over  to  the  keeper  of  the  Marshalsea  certain 
prisoners,  among  them  John  Hodgkins.1  He  has  not  yet 
earned  his  freedom.  A  year  later  (May  16,  1591)  we 
have  a  letter  from  the  Council  addressed  to  Whitgift. 
They  are  concerned  about  the  fate  of  three  men  under 
condemnation  because  of  their  implication  in  the  production 
of  the  tracts.  The  first  is  John  Udall,  the  former  minister  at 
Kingston  on  Thames,  whose  long  imprisonment  was  in  those 
days  considered  a  scandal.  The  second  is  Humfrey  Newman, 
the  stout  old  cobbler,  the  chief  distributer  of  Marprelate's 
writings.  The  third  is  John  Hodgkins.  They  have  all 
three  been  '  condemned  of  felonie,'  and  their  '  tyrne  of 
execution  as  yt  is  now  appointed  draweth  very  near.'  The 
Archbishop  is  urged  to  employ  the  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  and 
Dr.  Andrewes  to  endeavour  to  get  them  to  sign  such  an 
acknowledgment  of  their  fault  as  should  satisfy  Lord  Chief 
Justice  Anderson.  In  case  of  their  obstinacy  the  law  must 
take  its  course.  There  is  a  danger  in  showing  too  much 
lenity  to  '  such  a  seditious  and  dangerous  sort.' 2 

John  Udall,  we  know,  died  in  prison  of  a  broken  heart. 
To  humiliate  sufficiently  this  devoted  man,  he  was  brought 
in  heavy  shackles  to  Croydon,  to  be  tried  at  the  Archbishop's 
house.  He  wrote  his  submission  ;  he  wrote  many  submissions 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  but  that  which  was  the  response  to 
this  request  is  probably  the  document  accompanying  the 
letter  in  which  he  protests  that  it  goes  '  so  farr  as  [his] 
conscience  would  by  any  means  give  [him]  leave.'  He 
humbly  trusts  that  the  Justices  of  Assize  to  whom  it  is 
immediately  addressed,  will  be  satisfied,  'seeinge/  says  he, 

1  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council  (No.  55),  under  date.     Among  those  present 
were  Whitgift,  Hatton,  and  Burleigh. 

2  Ibid.  No.  57.     The  same  document  says  that  the  case  of  Cartwright 
is  not  so  pressing.      But  by  a  sinister  error  the  Dean  and  Doctor  were  sent 
to  Cartwright  and  not  to  Udall  and  Hodgkins  and  Newman.      Strype, 
Whitgift,  ii.  96. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     201 

'  I  can  not  yeld  any  further,  though  it  myght  save  my  lif.' 1 
To  Humfrey  Newman  a  form  of  submission  was  offered  in 
which  he  is  requested  to  say  that,  for  '  spreadinge '  books  of 
a  seditious,  infamous,  and  slanderous  character,  tending  to 
'  the  erecting  of  a  new  forme  of  gover[n]ment  contrarie 
to  her  maties  supremacie  ' — 

I  am  iustly  indicted  and  convict  as  a  fellone  sithence  which 
tyme  I  haue  seene  my  great  and  foule  offences  and  do  nowe 
before  God  and  all  this  p[re]sence  freely,  voluntarylye  and 
humbly  confes  the  lewdnes  and  greevousnes  of  my  saide  former 
practices  wch  I  doe  wth  all  my  hart  and  sole  detest,  etc.2 

We  have  no  information  upon  this  point,  but  it  is  safe 
to  assume  that  Newman  never  signed  this  document.  Of 
Hodgkins'  fate  we  have  no  further  knowledge.  If  he 
escaped  the  gallows,  after  his  repeated  rackings  he  would 
probably  never  afterwards  be  able  to  do  any  laborious  work. 
It  seems  certain  he  made  no  important  confession,  and  it  is 
noted  in  regard  to  his  earlier  examinations  that  he  tried  to 
hide  the  fact  that  he  had  been  to  Job  Throkmortori's  house.8 

3.  Henry  Sharpes  Betrayal. — We  do  not  know  for  what 
offence  Sharpe,  before  he  appears  in  the  Marprelate  story, 
suffered  his  long  imprisonment ;  but  seeing  that  he  was 
sent  to  gaol  at  the  instance  of  the  Bishops  and  released  by 
the  compassionate  intervention  of  the  Privy  Council,  we 
may  be  certain  that  in  some  way  he  had  identified  himself 
with  the  Puritan  propaganda;  probably  in  connection  with 
his  own  trade.4  From  what  we  know  of  him,  it  would  not 
be  unlikely  that  he  engaged  in  the  risky,  but  not  unprofit- 
able, traffic  of  secretly  vending  anti-episcopal  literature. 
He  no  doubt  helped  to  stitch  Martin's  publications  with  the 
ordinary  desire  for  gain ;  he  also  did  a  little  business  in 
selling  them  at  a  profit.  He  was  a  very  inquisitive  man ; 
never  diffident  in  asking  dangerous  questions ;  addressing 
them  indifferently  to  Knightley,  Penry,  or  to  any  else 
likely  to  gratify  his  curiosity.  We  should  set  him  down 
as  an  inveterate  gossip.  It  is,  however,  to  be  noted  that 

1  Harl.  MSS.  6489,  128.  2  Yelv.  MSS.  70,  fol.  181  vers. 

3  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  5  [Arber's  Sketch,  134].        4  Penry,  Appellation,  46,  47. 


202  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

he  was  never  completely  trusted  by  those  engaged  in  the 
work  of  the  secret  press.  Waldegrave  probably  knew 
him  of  old,  both  having  been  contemporaries  as  printers' 
apprentices  in  London.  Sharpe  received  the  freedom  of 
the  Stationers'  Company  in  1579.  He  appears  to  have 
fallen  into  a  second  ecclesiastical  offence  and  was  in  hiding 
in  the  spring  of  1589,  at  which  time  the  Bishops  demanded 
from  the  Mayor  of  Northampton  his  immediate  apprehension. 
It  is  just  possible  that  he  had  been  discovered  to  be  a 
'  distractor '  of  Martin's  EPISTLE,  some  sheets  of  which  he 
saw  at  Northampton  in  Penry's  hands,  while  it  was  being 
printed ;  though  it  is  significant  that  he  did  not  know  that 
the  press  was  at  East  Molesey.  When  Penry  went  to 
Fawsley  for  the  printed  sheets  of  THE  EPITOME,  Sharpe,  who 
accompanied  him  on  the  journey,  had  to  wait  in  a  field 
some  distance  from  the  house,  which  he  was  not  allowed  to 
approach  any  nearer.  He  tried  to  follow  Penry  and  Hales 
to  the  White  Friars,  as  we  have  seen.  Humfrey  Newman 
never  told  him  the  destination  of  the  packs  he  took  away 
from  Northampton.  Questioned  upon  the  point,  Sharpe's 
deposition  is,  '  To  London  as  [he]  thinketh.' 

When  the  search  grew  hot  and  the  toils  of  spy  and 
informer  began  to  close  around  the  confederates,  Sharpe 
began  to  cast  about  for  a  way  of  escape  by  betraying  them. 
He  was  terrified  to  find  he  was  one  of  those  who  were 
*  sought  for/  and  had  heard  that  the  Lord  Chancellor  '  was 
offended  with  him ' ;  as  though  he  had  supposed  that 
stitching  Martin's  tracts  would  have  been  gratifying  to 
Hatton.  As  early  as  Easter  he  thinks  he  can  wipe  off'  all 
his  scores  by  communicating  the  valuable  Marprelate  secret, 
as  far  as  he  knows  it,  to  the  Government.  Knightley, 
whom  strangely  enough  he  consulted  upon  the  matter, 
advised  him  at  least  to  defer  his  intention.  Moved  as  the 
authorities  were  at  the  time,  if  they  laid  hands  upon  him, 
'surely  they  wolde  hang  him.'  He  had  therefore  better 
'  withdraw  himself  until  they  were  better  pacifyed.'  With 
characteristic,  but,  as  the  event  proved,  futile  cunning,  he 
determined  to  protect  himself  both  ways — come  to  terms 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     203 

with  the  Lord  Chancellor  if  he  could,  or  else  go  on  making 
as  much  gain  as  he  might  out  of  the  Marprelate  press,  and 
do  his  best  to  avoid  the  pursuivants.  Asked  by  Penry, 
when  news  came  that  Waldegrave  was  actually  settled  at 
Eochelle,  'if  he  colde  not  worke  about  the  press/  his  reply 
was,  that  '  he  could  in  some  sorte,  but  that  he  wolde  not  so 
doe,  except  the  Lord  Chancellor  refused  to  remit  him.' 

About  midsummer  he  sent  his  wife  with  his  humble 
'  supplication '  to  Hatton ;  but  she  returned  with  but  cold 
comfort  for  him.  Yet  he  still  declined  a  further  overture 
from  Peury,  though  reminded  of  his  duplicate  resolution. 
Presently  he  found  it  prudent  to  withdraw  from  North- 
ampton, where  he  had  seemingly  lived  in  indifference  to 
the  Bishop's  warrant.  He  went  to  stay  for  a  while  with 
his  '  wyefs  father '  at  Wolston.  When  he  found  that  the 
secret  press  was  settled  there,  he  once  more  helped  to  stitch 
the  new  tracts.  But  the  authorities  were  on  his  track,  and 
a  tenant  of  Roger  Wigston's,  one  Baker,  a  bailiff,  had  him 
arrested.  To  save  himself  he  readily  told  all  he  knew  ;  and 
as  we  are  now  able  to  see,  much  that  he  did  not  know, 
and  that  was  false — every  scrap  of  idle  gossip,  every  breath 
of  rumour  which  had  reached  his  ears  and  could  add  to  the 
value  of  his  confession,  and  secure  his  freedom.  He  may 
or  may  not  have  sent  word  to  Throkmorton  when  he  had 
made  his  betrayal.  Sutcliffe  says  he  did;  but  he  is  not 
always  to  be  relied  on,  for  his  anger  against  Throkmorton 
somewhat  blinded  him  to  the  truth.  But  the  suggestion 
that  he  conspired  with  Throkmorton,  shielding  him  and 
betraying  Penry,  is  incredible.  Penry  and  Waldegrave 
were  fast  friends  to  the  end.  As  for  Sharpe,  he  spared  no 
one.  If  he  had  been  likely  to  shield  any  one,  it  would  have 
been  the  great  man  at  Fawsley.  Yet  we  see  that  the  most 
damaging  piece  of  evidence  against  Sir  Eichard  was  his 
proud  boast  to  Sharpe  how  he  would  course  the  pursuivants, 
if  the  fellows  dared  to  come  to  his  house  to  arrest  him.1 

1  Sharpe's  deposition  in  Baker's  transcript  is  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  23.  It 
is  given  in  extenso  by  Prof.  Arber,  Sketch,  94  et  seq.  See  also  Penry's 
Appellation,  47  (Sketch,  174). 


204  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

His  deposition  made  before  the  Lord  Chancellor  is  dated 
October  15,  1589.  We  hear  no  more  of  him.  He 
probably  speedily  gained  his  liberty  and  the  abiding  enmity 
of  all  his  old  associates  by  his  treachery.  He  vanishes 
from  the  scene  by  the  back  door  of  the  informer. 

4.  The  Government's  Brief  against  the  Martinists. — The 
official  brief,  held  by  Serjeant  Puckering,  as  prosecuting 
counsel  for  the  Crown,  produced,  as  we  note,  while  Hodgkins 
was  in  the  Tower,  must  have  been  immediately  compiled, 
with  Sharpe's  confession  as  its  basis.1  The  earlier  con- 
fessions of  Simms  and  Thomlyn,  after  they  had  been  put 
upon  the  rack,  filled  up  some  of  the  gaps ;  and  these  con- 
fessions were  doubtless  used  in  getting  further  confirmations 
from  Hodgkins  while  he  was  under  torture.  The  two  men, 
it  is  remarked  in  the  official  document,  were  most  reluctant 
to  tell  the  story  of  the  printing  of  the  two  '  Martins '  at 
Wolston.  This  because,  as  they  explained,  '  in  ye  end, 
Hodgkins  had  taken  an  oath  of  them  not  to  reveale ' 
anything  put  into  their  hands  to  print.2  They  made  a 
final  and  complete  confession,  giving  daily  details  of  their 
work  under  Hodgkins,  which  we  have  fully  used  above. 
This  was  on  December  10th.  When  they  were  liberated 
we  do  not  know ;  but  in  later  years  we  find  Simms  estab- 
lished in  London  as  a  master  printer.  His  name  appears 
on  the  title-page  of  printed  books  from  1594  to  1612. 
An  incident  in  his  later  career  cannot  be  passed  over.  We 
are  startled  to  find  that  in  the  year  1602,  Bancroft,  then 
Bishop  of  London,  is  accused  of  shielding  a  secret  Roman 
Catholic  press.  In  a  document  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  it  is  boldly  demanded 
that  he  should  be  arraigned  for  high  treason.  Bancroft's 
connection  with  this  press  seems  to  be  well  established, 
though  he  had  assurance  and  influence  enough  to  weather 
the  storm.  Among  the  printers  employed  '  to  printe  popish 

1  This  important  digest  of  the  evidence  then  available  is  found  in  the 
Harl.  MSS.  7042  (1-12),  and  is  reprinted  in  Arber's  Sketch,  121  sqq. 

2  Ibid.   f.  9  (Sketch,   135).     His  exhortation  to  them  on  this  point  on 
their  journey  from  Manchester  to  London  will  be  remembered. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     205 

and  dangerous  bookes ' — one  of  them,  Dolman's  book  on 
the  succession  ! — was  Valentyne  Sirnms.  Bancroft  protected 
the  men  who  printed  the  treasonable  Eomish  book,  but 
later  he  had  Simms  prosecuted  for  '  printing  a  ballad  against 
Sir  Walter  Eawley ' ;  and  in  that  connection  said,  '  I  could 
have  hanged  the  fellow  long  ere  this  if  I  had  listed.'  The 
allusion  was  no  doubt  to  Simms'  arrest  in  connection  with 
the  Marprelate  press.  But  besides  casting  some  light  upon 
the  character  of  Simms,  the  incident  is  an  additional  and 
valuable  piece  of  evidence  on  the  leading  part  played  by 
Bancroft  in  all  these  prosecutions.  It  also  supports  and 
further  illustrates  our  estimate  of  this  unscrupulous  man's 
character.1 

5.  Important  Arrests. — We  learn  from  the  Puckering 
Brief  that  during  the  autumn  of  1589  a  large  number  of 
persons  had  been  convented  before  the  High  Commission 
in  addition  to  those  referred  to  already.  We  only  know 
the  tenor  of  their  depositions  from  this  analytical  docu- 
ment. The  venerable  widow  Mrs.  Crane  was  among  the 
number.  Being  a  dame  of  good  social  standing,  and  per- 
haps in  remembrance  of  the  harsh  measure  meted  out  to 
her  late  husband,  who  died  in  Newgate  of  prison  disease, 
she  does  not  appear  to  have  been  sent  to  prison.  It  was 
not  her  complaisant  behaviour  to  Whitgift  that  saved  her. 
Before  the  Commission  she  '  refused  to  answere  vpon  oath 
to  any  question,  either  concerning  herself,  for  that,  as  she 
said,  "  she  would  not  be  her  own  Hangman,"  or  concerning 
others,  for  that  "  she  could  not  in  her  Conscience,  be  an 
Accuser  of  others."  ' 2 

After  the  first  disclosure  of  Henry  Sharpe,  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  in  consideration  of  the  great  estimation  in 
which  the  knight  of  Fawsley  was  held,  warned  him  of  the 
peril  in  which  he  stood.  Whitgift  was,  however,  strong 
enough,  and  the  Queen's  antipathy  to  Martinism  pronounced 
enough,  to  compel  Sir  Eichard  Knightley,  and  the  other 

1  '  Bishop  Bancroft  and  a  Catholic  Press,'  by  H.  R.  Plomer.     The  Library 
April  1907. 

2  Harl.  MSS.  7042,  fol.  11,  12  [Arber's  Sketch,  123]. 


206  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

harbourers  of  the  press  in  the  Midlands,  John  Hales  of 
Coventry  and  Roger  Wigston  and  his  wife  of  Wolston,  to 
appear  before  the  ecclesiastical  court.  It  must  have  been 
towards  the  end  of  October  that  this  cause  c6U~bre  was 
opened.  With  the  confessions  of  Nicholas  Tomkius, 
Sharpe,  and  Simms  and  Thomlyn  in  their  possession,  the 
authorities  had  the  itinerary  of  the  Marprelate  press  from 
the  day  it  was  housed  at  East  Molesey  to  its  capture  at 
Manchester.  Besides  the  principals,  the  additional  wit- 
nesses were  chiefly  servants  from  Fawsley  House.  Jeffs 
the  farmer,  from  Upton,  told  his  part  of  the  story ;  then 
followed  Lawrence  Jackson,  the  '  keeper  of  Fawsley  House/ 
and  Stephen,  Sir  Richard's  factotum.  Peter  Greye,  another 
servant,  told  the  piquant  story  of  Martin's  disguise  in  the 
'  sky-coloured  cloak/  and  he  and  an  ex-servant  related  how 
Humfrey  Newman  wore  a  green  cloak,  till  he  donned,  for 
completer  security  from  interference,  Sir  Richard's  livery. 
The  preliminary  examinations  enabled  Whitgift  to  keep  the 
three  chief  personages  in  the  Fleet.  The  plain  charge 
against  them  is  that  they  had  harboured  the  Marprelate 
press.  But  the  belief  of  the  Lambeth  League  is  '  that  the 
persones  before  mencioned  are  by  all  probabilitye  acquainted 
with  the  said  Martin  and  can  disclose  who  and  where  he  is/ 
They  therefore  desire  that  the  prisoners  shall  be  examined 
by  'persons  of  credytt  and  understanding/  They  appoint 
first  the  '  Lord  Busshoppe  of  Rochester  [John  Young],'  '  re- 
quiring him  to  set  other  business  aside  and  to  come  to 
London/  Associated  with  him  are  a  number  of  chief  per- 
sons, judges,  members  of  the  Council,  and  ecclesiastical 
lawyers.  They  are  to  'use  their  best  and  uttermost 
endeavours  to  finde  the  author  of  the  said  libells.' l  The 
prisoners  remained  in  the  Fleet  until  February  13th  the 
following  year,  when  they  came  up  for  final  examination 
before  the  Lord  Chancellor,  sitting  in  the  Star  Chamber. 
Attorney -General  Popham  is  the  chief  counsel  for  the 
prosecution.  He  delivers  himself  on  the  subject  of  sec- 
taries in  general ;  but  he  is  evidently  lacking  in  clear  ideas 

1  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  under  date  Nov.  16,  1589. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     207 

about  them.       From    his   rambling   speech  we  learn   that 
some  of  them  would  give  an  autonomy  to  each  congrega- 
tion, '  whereupon  would  ensue  more  mischief  than  any  man 
by   tongue  can  utter/      These   sectaries   are   of  '  the   very 
vilest   and   basest  sort.'     Then  we  learn  of  her  Majesty's 
'  great  wisdom  '  in   issuing   proclamations.       The  prisoners 
have    neglected    these    warnings.       A  '  seditious  and  leud 
rebel/  John  Penry,  came  to  Sir  Eichard, '  a  great  man  in  his 
country/  and  persuaded  him  to  accommodate  his  press  to 
print  another  of  his  books  about  '  the  Government  of  Wales/ 
Then  follows  a  slight  outline  of  the  activities  of  the  press, 
and  a  reference  to  Sir  Kichard's  fellow-prisoners,  Hales  and 
the  Wigs  tons.      The  prisoners,  at  this  point,  make  a  very 
humble  defence  of  themselves,  one   and  all  protesting  that 
they  were   not   aware   of  the   nature   of  the  books  which 
Penry  proposed  to  print.      Hales  hides  behind  Sir  Eichard, 
who   married   his   aunt.       Wigston   is  specially  jeered    at 
because   he    yielded,   in    ignorance,    to   his   wife's   request. 
Mrs.   Wigston   is    the  most   satisfactory   of   the   defenders. 
She  very  contentedly  takes  the  blame  to  herself,  which  she 
assigns  to  her  '  zeal  of  reformation  in  the  Church.'     Serjeant 
Puckering  with  his  full   brief  then   gives  us  a  few  more 
details.     Solicitor  Egerton  is  next  put  up  to  descant  upon 
the  moral  enormity  of  the  various  sectaries,  including  the 
Popish   conspirators,   and    the   wonderful   fortitude   of    the 
Queen  in  the  face  of  such  enemies.      Mr.  Vice- Chamberlain 
protested  that  although  the  prisoners  were  'beloved  of  all 
of  [them]/  yet  justice  must  be  done.     The  Lord  Chancellor 
solemnly  closed   the  parade  of  false  issues  by  pointing  to 
the   county  of  Northampton,  which,  he  said,  '  did    swarm 
with  these  sectaries/  and  an  example  must  be  made  of  the 
prisoners.     They  were  lined  in  enormous  sums,  taking  into 
account   the  value   of    money   at  the   time :     Sir   Eichard 
Knightley,   £2000;    Hales,    1000    marks;    Wigston,    500 
marks;  Mrs.  Wigston,  £1000;  with  imprisonment  at  her 
Majesty's   pleasure.1     There   is   a   tradition,  started  by  Sir 
George  Paull,  that  Sir  Eichard's  punishment  was  mitigated 
1  State  Trials  (ed.  by  Hargrave),  vii.  29. 


208  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

through  the  intervention  of  Whitgift;  but  like  all  tradi- 
tions of  the  Archbishop  showing  clemency  to  his  reforming 
opponents,  it  is  supported  by  no  evidence.  Indeed,  as  we 
have  already  said,  the  evidence  lies  entirely  the  other  way. 

6.  Penry's  Escape. — When  the  PROTEST  AT  YON  was  out  of 
hand  at  Wolston,  the  question  of  Penry's  safety  soon  became 
one  of  anxious  and  pressing  importance  to  himself  and  his 
friends.  He  was  not  only  implicated  in  the  Marprelate 
Tracts,  but  had  secretly  printed  and  circulated  tracts  on 
the  scandalous  religious  and  moral  condition  of  Wales,  bear- 
ing openly  his  own  name  or  initials — tracts  which  were 
only  in  a  degree  less  obnoxious  to  Whitgift  than  those  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Marprelate.  He  had  a  young  wife  at 
Northampton.  But  he  was  probably  wise  enough  to  know 
that  his  clerical  enemies  would  naturally  order  Henry 
Godley's  house  to  be  under  strict  watch.  The  confessions 
of  Simms  and  Thomlyn  would  put  them  on  the  track  of 
Job  Throkmorton.  Matthew  Sutcliffe  tells  us  that  for  a 
while  Penry  was  lurking  in  an  ale-house  eighteen  miles 
from  Fawsley — a  sufficiently  vague  indication  to-day  of 
his  whereabouts.  But  as  soon  as  Throkmorton  had  supplied 
him  with  the  necessary  funds — he  raised  a  special  fund 
among  his  friends  in  London  to  pay  Penry's  debts — then 
Penry  sought  safety  in  Scotland.  John  Udall,  under  exami- 
nation on  January  13,  1590,  stated  that  Penry  called  at 
his  door  at  Newcastle  '  a  quarter  of  a  year '  before.  He 
was  then  on  his  way  north.  He  did  not  enter  Udall's 
house,  and  apparently  hurried  on  to  get  across  the  border. 

While  in  Scotland  Throkmorton  supplied  Penry  with 
English  news,  and  sent  him  copies  of  his  own  latest  literary 
ventures.  Bancroft  found  means  to  have  the  correspond- 
ence intercepted.  This  piece  of  smart  detective  work  was 
one  of  the  qualifications,  as  we  know,  noted  by  Whitgift 
when  urging  Bancroft's  fitness  to  be  a  Bishop.  Extracts 
were  made  from  the  letters,  some  of  which  are  preserved  in 
Sutcliffe's  Answer  to  Job  Throkmorton.  They  were  written 
under  a  counterfeit  name,  and  consist  of  ironical  criticisms 
on  current  affairs. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     209 

'  0  Sir,  hath  not  her  Majesty  reigned  prosperously  !  and  is  it 
a  time  think  you !  to  alter  those  and  so  many  blessings  bestowed 
upon  us  ;  to  raise  turmoils  and  innovations,  and  to  pull  the  crown 
off  her  head  ?  Well,  your  Worship  will  not  meddle  with  any  of 
these  kind  of  seditious  people.' 

He  tells  Penry  that  the  printers  have  confessed  '  that 
Martin  was  made  by  Penry  and  one  of  the  Throkmortons.' 
And  again  he  writes  that 

'  her  Majesty  had  lately  been  in  danger  of  poisoning  and  that 
other  shrewd  plots  had  been  laid  against  her,  and  all  by  Penry ! ' l 

We  cannot  deny  that  Throkmorton  had  some  ground  for 
his  satiric  fun.  Probably  no  men  in  the  kingdom  were 
freer  from  thoughts  of  treason,  or  more  loyal,  irrationally 
loyal,  one  is  tempted  to  write,  than  the  men  who  were 
seeking  the  further  reformation  of  the  Church.  Yet  it 
suited  the  Bishops  to  represent  their  writings  as  seditious, 
and  themselves  as  dangerous  traitors,  aiming  at  setting  up 
another  government  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  Queen. 
Udall,  as  we  have  seen,  appeared  in  court  laden  with  irons 
as  though  he  were  a  violent  homicidal  criminal. 

7.  Another  Rendezvous  at  Haseley. — Within  the  next  two 
months,  probably  during  the  latter  half  of  November,  Penry 
left  Scotland  for  Northamptonshire.  He  had  found  friends 
among  the  reforming  party  in  Edinburgh.  But  he  had  a 
double  object  in  paying  a  secret  visit  to  his  old  haunts. 
He  had  a  wife  and  child  at  the  house  of  his  father-in-law, 
Henry  Godley.  The  child,  the  eldest  of  his  four  daughters, 
was  the  Deliverance  Penry  of  Hamptonshire  [Northampton- 
shire], who  on  May  14,  1611,  was  married  at  Amsterdam 
to  Samuel  Whitaker,  a  'bombazine  worker.'  Her  age  is 
given  as  twenty-one  years ;  that  is,  twenty-one  years  and 
certain  unmentioned  months.2  The  fact  of  the  county 
being  given  in  the  Amsterdam  records  is  an  indication  that 
she  was  born  before  her  mother  moved  to  Edinburgh.  The 

1  OpScit.  73,  74  [Arber's  Sketch,  182,  183]. 

2  Trans.  Gougl.  Hist.  Soc.  ii.  165.      'The  Brownists  in  Amsterdam,'  by 
T.  G.  Crippen. 

P 


210  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Archbishop's  pursuivant  had  peremptorily  ordered  the 
Mayor  of  Northampton  to  arrest  Penry  on  sight.  This 
would  not  have  deterred  Penry  from  running  the  risk  of 
privately  visiting  the  town,  and  the  probability  is  that  the 
Mayor  and  chief  men  of  the  Council  sympathised  with 
Penry's  views.  Walton,  the  arrogant  pursuivant,  suspected 
them  of  being  wanting  in  zeal  in  carrying  out  Whitgift's 
commands.  Penry's  safety  lay  partly  in  the  improbability 
that  he  would  risk  putting  his  head  in  the  lion's  mouth. 

But  Penry  had  another  object  in  returning  south. 
Waldegrave  had  been  engaged  at  Rochelle  in  printing  his 
Appellation  and  also  Throkmorton's  M.  Some  in  his  Coulers.1 
Waldegrave,  we  conclude,  was  on  his  way  to  Scotland;  but 
it  was  necessary  to  deliver  the  printed  matter  on  his  hands 
to  its  respective  authors.  He  no  doubt  wanted  payment 
for  his  work,  and  it  was  desirable  to  get  the  pamphlets  into 
circulation.  When  Penry  reached  the  Manor-house  at 
Haseley  he  found  that  the  printer  had  already  arrived  with 
his  packages  of  literature.2  It  was,  however,  impossible  for 
Throkmorton  to  keep  these  compromising  pamphlets  at  his 
house.  He  had  already  on  his  hands  the  bulk  of  the  copies 
of  the  PROTESTATYON.  Matters  were  indeed  becoming 
critical  with  him,  for  the  pursuivant  had  been  to  Haseley 
seeking  him,  and  only  by  the  merest  chance  failed  to 
execute  his  warrant.  There  was  also  a  new  inducement  to 
clear  his  house  of  the  contraband  pamphlets.  He  had 
recently  married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Thomas  Vernon  of 
Houndhill,  a  hamlet  lying  on  the  borders  of  Staffordshire, 
on  the  north-east,  between  Tutbury  and  Uttoxeter.3  With 

1  Sutcliffe's  Answer  to  ThroTc.   72,   73;  Arber's  Sketch,  179,  181.      For 
the  authorship  of  M.  Some  in  his  Coulers,  see  below,  p.  233. 

2  Ibid.  73  ;  Arber,  181. 

3  'Dorothea  filia  Tho.  Vernon  de  Hownall  in  Com.  Staff.'      Camden's 
Visitation    of  Warwickshire    (ed.   Camd.   Soc.),    79.       Houndhill  is  in  the 
parish  of  Hanbury  but  in  the  chapelry  of  Marchington,  the  village  close  by 
Houndhill  House.      See  Shaw's  Hist,   of  Staffordshire,  i.  85.      Marchington 
church  contains  a  fine  alabaster  tomb  to  Walter  Vernon,  who  died  in  1592-93. 
Job  Throkmorton's  eldest  child,    Clement,  was  baptised  by  Thomas  Cart- 
wright,  who  preached  a  sermon  on  the  occasion.     Whitgift  complained  of 
the  doctrine  ventilated  in  the  sermon.     His  schedule  of  charges  is  dated 
Sept.  1,  1590.     Fuller,  Hist.  iii.  bk.  ix.  p.  198. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     211 

their  powerful  and  distinguished  friend,  the  master  of 
Fawsley,  and  his  neighbours  Wigston  and  Hales,  lying  like 
common  felons  in  the  Fleet  in  London,  it  was  time  for  the 
new  mistress  of  Haseley  to  look  after  the  safety  of  her 
dangerously  witty  and  satirical  husband,  who  was  far  more 
deeply  involved  than  they  in  the  business  of  Martin  Mar- 
prelate.  It  was  therefore  speedily  determined  that  the 
visitors  should  take  the  whole  of  the  pamphlets  to  the 
house  of  Henry  Godley  at  Northampton.  They  did  well, 
as  we  shall  see,  not  to  tarry  too  long  in  the  town  but  to 
hasten  on  their  way  north.  Mrs.  Penry  was  now  of  the 
company,  though  owing  to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation 
the  child  was  left  behind  with  its  grandparents.  The  last 
of  Penry's  four  children  was  born  in  London  in  the  year  of 
his  execution  or  the  close  of  the  previous  year.  And  in  his 
final  letter  to  his  children  he  speaks  of  two  of  them  and 
their  mother  having  received  great  kindness  from  the  people 
of  Scotland.  Moreover,  we  find  that  next  year  the  authorities 
had  discovered  that  Penry  was  in  Edinburgh,  and  instructed 
Bowes,  the  ambassador,  to  complain  to  the  king.  This  he 
did  on  May  16,  1590.  James,  in  the  beginning  of 
August,  issued  through  his  Privy  Council  a  writ  banishing 
Penry  from  his  realm ;  but  in  November  Bowes  complains 
that  he  is  still  in  Scotland,  and  that  '  it  was  merveiled  in 
Ingland'  that  he  should  be  suffered  to  remain.  The  king 
replied  in  December  that  he  was  credibly  informed  that 
Penry  had  left  the  country,  though  Bowes  states  that  '  his 
wife  continueth  in  this  Towne  supported  by  benevolence  of 
his  friends  here.' l  There  is  no  mention  here  of  a  child,  as 
we  should  have  expected  from  the  particular  account  of 
Bowes,  had  there  beei:  also  a  child  living  upon  the  bene- 
volent help  of  the  Scotch  friends. 

Waldegrave  had  confident  hopes  of  finding  employment 
in  Scotland.  Udall,  who  was  then  at  Newcastle,  and  had 
preached  at  the  Scotch  General  Assembly  in  June  1589  in 
the  presence  of  the  King  and  the  Court,  would  be  able  to 

1  State  Papers  Scot.— Eliz.  1590,  vol.  45  (No.  44),  vol.  46  (22)  (64)  (73). 
Reg.  of  the  Privy  Council  Scot.  iv.  1585-92,  p.  517. 


212  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

help  his  old  printer.  Early  next  year  we  have  evidence 
that  Waldegrave  is  following  his  calling ;  though  com- 
plaints are  presented  by  Bowes  that  he  should  be  harboured 
in  Scotland  and  allowed  to  print  there  books  against  his 
own  country.  But  the  king  persistently  pleads  an  excuse 
for  him,  stating  that  they  are  in  need  of  a  printer,  and  in 
December  tells  the  English  ambassador  that  he  has  appointed 
him  his  own  printer.1 

Meanwhile  the  informer  had  despatched  news  from 
Northampton  concerning,  the  secret  visit  of  Penry  and 
Waldegrave  to  the  house  of  Henry  Godley,  and  that  they 
had  brought  packages  with  them  which  were  suspected  to 
contain  tracts  against  the  Bishops.  But  Throkmorton,  who 
had  apparently  constant  communication  with  the  Court  and 
Government  circles  in  London,  presently  received  private 
warning  that  once  more  Godley 's  house  was  to  be  raided. 
He  was  able  to  despatch  one  Garnet,  a  native  of  North- 
ampton, with  the  information  to  Godley,  who  thereupon 
packed  up  the  stock  of  pamphlets,  consisting  of  500  copies 
of  Tti  Appellation,  600  of  M.  Some  in  his  Coulers,  and  500 
of  the  PROTESTATYON,  and  forwarded  them  on  the  shoulders 
of  Garnet  and  Humfrey  Newman  to  the  keeping  of  a  friend 
at  Banbury.2  When  Whitgift's  pursuivants  arrived  the 
expected  plunder  had  disappeared. 

8.  Imprisonment  of  Udall. — In  November  1588  the 
Commission  sitting  at  Richmond  and  at  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Kingston  little  knew  how  near  they  were  to  the 
temporary  printing-house  at  East  Molesey,  whence  issued 
the  celebrated  EPISTLE  of  Marprelate.  But  they  elicited 
from  certain  witnesses,  and  subsequently  from  himself,  that 
John  Udall  was  in  some  indirect  way  responsible  for  certain 
facts  to  be  found  in  its  pages.  This  came  to  light  mainly 
through  the  testimony  of  Stephen  Chatfield,  the  vicar  of 
Kingston.  The  evidence  consisted  principally  of  vague 
threats  uttered  by  Udall  that  he  would  write  if  they 

1  State  Papers  Scot.—Eliz.  vol.  46  (64)  (73).     In  June  1592,  James  writes 
a  personal  letter  to  Burleigh  asking  him  to  obtain  Waldegrave's  complete 
pardon.     Ibid.  vol.  48  (53). 

2  Sutcliffe's  Ans.  to  Throk.  73  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  181. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST   POLTCY      213 

silenced  him  as  a  preacher.  Moreover,  certain  stories  con- 
cerning Archdeacon  Cottington  and  Hone,  his  '  official!/  had, 
as  Udall  admitted,  emanated  from  him.  He  had  shown 
certain  '  collections '  to  Chatfield,  and  also  to  John  Field. 
He  protested,  however,  that  he  knew  not  how  Martin 
obtained  his  notes,  and  frequently  disavowed  all  respon- 
sibility for  the  publication  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts.1  He 
professed  to  have  no  liking  for  what  he  called  '  the  particu- 
larities of  them  ...  as  the  revylinge  of  them,'  and  so 
forth.  For  the  time  he  escaped  imprisonment,  and  a 
few  months  later,  through  the  mediation  of  the  Earl  of 
Huntingdon,  obtained  an  appointment  at  Newcastle-on- 
Tyne,  where  he  laboured  successfully  for  about  a  year.  In 
the  early  days  of  January  1590,  after  a  wintry  journey 
from  the  north,  the  like  of  which,  he  said,  he  would  not 
wish  unto  his  enemy,  he  appeared  in  London  as  a  suspected 
person,  and  from  that  time,  although  many  persons  of  great 
consequence  warmly  interested  themselves  in  his  favour, 
King  James  of  Scotland  among  the  number,  he  never 
succeeded  in  obtaining  his  liberty.  It  was  now  known  that 
he  was  the  author  of  the  dialogue  popularly  called  Diotrepkes, 
and  of  the  exposition  and  defence  of  the  eldership  called 
The  Demonstration  of  Discipline ;  the  latter  of  which  was 
actually  printed  on  the  Martinist  press.  These  two  works, 
the  authorship  of  which  Udall  would  not  deny,  were  suffi- 
ciently anti-episcopal  in  phrase  and  in  general  j<  intention  to 
make  it  certain  that,  once  he  was  in  Whitgift's  custody, 
there  was  little  hope  of  his  coming  out  of  that  tenacious 
grip  alive.  In  the  very  opening  pages  of  this  Demonstration 
he  addresses  the  prelacy  as  '  the  supposed  governours  of  the 
Church  of  England,'  and  asks  them, '  Will  you  still  continue 
in  your  damnable  and  most  deuellish  course  ?  Have  you 
solde  your  selues  vnto  Sathan,  to  fight  for  him  vntill  you  be 
dampned  in  Hell  with  him  ?  Haue  you  mortgaged  the  salua- 
tion  of  your  soules  and  bodies,  for  the  present  fruition  of  your 
pomp  and  plesure  ? '  He  says, '  I  am  perswaded  that  you  are 
in  league  with  hell,  and  haue  made  a  couenaunt  with  death.' 

1  See  post,  p.  278. 


' 


214  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Udall's  scruples  about  Martin's  style  may  seem,  after 
these  examples  of  his  own  strong  language,  a  rather  fastidi- 
ous refinement.  Probably  in  his  serious  view  it  was  more 
becoming,  less  meriting  the  blame  of  religious  men,  to  re- 
proach the  Bishops  in  downright  earnestness,  of  pursuing 
'  deuellish  courses/  than  to  put  on  the  motley  and  make 
riotous  fun  of  them.  However,  Whitgift  gave  Udall's  rhetoric 
of  denunciation  its  full  weight  and  value.  And  there  was 
probably  in  his  mind  an  abiding  conviction  that  the  man 
who  supplied,  though  indirectly,  one  or  two  details  in  THE 
EPISTLE,  and  had  his  own  pamphlet  printed  on  the  same  press, 
and  in  the  same  house,  must  know  who  was  the  real  Martin 
Marprelate.  Instead  of  supplying  this  desired  information, 
Udall  helped  to  disparage  Whitgift's  cherished  suspicion  that 
Penry  was  the  man.  So  he  was  condemned  to  death.  But  the 
Archbishop  had  not  the  hardihood  to  carry  out  the  atrocious 
sentence.  However,  he  left  him  to  linger  in  his  filthy 
prison,  in  spite  of  many  petitions  and  interceding  appeals, 
till  Udall  died  at  last,  in  the  Marshalsea,  heart-broken. 

9.  Proceedings  against  Job  Throkmorton. — The  escape  of 
Job  Throkmorton  is  the  second  greatest  mystery  in  con- 
nection with  the  Marprelate  Tracts.  That  he  was  prin- 
cipally responsible  for  the  printing  of  them  does  not 
admit  of  any  doubt.  He  chiefly  supplied  the  funds ; 
he  directed  the  general  movements  of  the  printers ;  he  is 
the  substantial,  authoritative  person  behind  Penry;  for 
the  enthusiastic  Welshman  was  mainly  occupied  with  the 
passionate  desire  to  evangelise  his  native  land  and  with 
the  numerous  works  which  he  wrote  in  furtherance  of  that 
object.  It  is  true  that  Throkmorton  was  highly  connected. 
So  was  the  knight  of  Fawsley.  Knightley  married  a 
Seymour,  and  was  the  chief  man  in  his  shire ;  yet  he  did 
not  escape  months  of  imprisonment  and  a  disastrous  fine. 

There  seems  to  have  been  an  intention  of  apprehending 
Job  Throkmorton  if  we  may  trust  a  story  preserved  in 
Dr.  H.  Sampson's  Lives  of  the  Ministers  of  Coventry,  a  work 
which  exists  in  MS.,  and  dates  a  century  after  the  event  it 
narrates.  It  would  appear  that  a  pursuivant  entered  the 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     215 

yard  at  Haseley,  and  finding  a  man  there  he  asked  him 
where  Master  Throkmorton  was.  The  man  replied  that  he 
had  just  gone  to  Scotland.  Perceiving  that  he  had  been 
addressing  a  witling,  the  pursuivant  believed  that  the 
answer  was  probably  true,  since  '  children  and  fools  speak 
true/  But  he  fell  into  another  error,  for  he  understood 
the  expression  '  gone  to  Scotland  '  to  be  literally  true,  which 
was  true  only  as  one  of  the  conventions  in  use  among  the 
servants  of  the  place.  Job  Throkmorton,  it  is  said,  was 
hard  by  and  heard  the  conversation.1 

He  was,  however,  not  wholly  to  escape.  He  was 
charged  and  convicted  at  the  Warwickshire  Assizes,  in 
the  autumn  of  1590,  with  participating  in  the  printing 
of  the  Marprelate  Tracts.2  What  penalty  the  judges  im- 
posed upon  him  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain ; 
but  whatever  it  was,  he  appears  to  have  escaped  it.  Even 
though  we  take  into  account  that  the  full  extent  of  his 
complicity  was  not  realised  at  this  time ;  that  Matthew 
Sutcliffe  had  not  yet  written  his  minute  and  relentless 
indictment ;  nevertheless,  the  charges  against  him  contained 
in  the  Puckering  brief  were  enough  to  hang  any  ordinary 
offender.  How  then  came  Throkmorton  to  escape  the 
vengeance  of  Whitgift  ?  We  may  make  some  allowance 
for  the  fact  that  in  1590  the  fury  of  the  Lambeth  League 
against  Marprelacy  was  abating.  The  hired  scribes  of 
the  episcopacy,  Bancroft's  lambs,  had  flooded  the  country 
with  their  literature,  and  though  it  was  often  morally 
offensive,  there  was  no  difficulty  about  the  cum  privilegio. 
Buffoonery  which  was  smudged  with  grossness  had  appealed 
from  the  stage  to  the  lower  instincts  of  the  community. 
Most  of  those  principally  concerned  in  the  Marprelate 
attack  were  in  prison.  The  taut  cords  of  the  rack  on 
which  the  printers  were  stretched  had  vibrated  like  harp- 
strings,  making  a  music  highly  pleasant  to  the  ears  of  the 
Archbishop.  Was  it  not  time  now  to  leave  the  Martinists 

1  The  MS.  is  preserved  in  Dr.  Williams'  library. 

2  That  it  was  at  the  County  Assizes  that  he  was  charged  may  be  assumed 
from  the  petition  which  he  addressed  to  the  Lord  Chancellor.      In  it  he 
speaks  of  having  made  his  submission  to  the  judges  of  Assize. 


216  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

contemptuously  alone  ?  With  any  other  ecclesiastic  than 
Whitgift  one  might  plausibly  have  entertained  such  a 
suggestion  in  explanation  of  Throkmorton's  escape. 

More  weight  must  he  accorded  to  Throkmorton's  own 
attitude  and  his  wisely  considered  and  submissive  petition  to 
Lord  Chancellor  Hatton.      In  this  he  makes  notable  general 
admissions,  but  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  he  avoids  any 
specific  acknowledgment  of  guilt.     No  one,  ignorant  of  the 
circumstances  out  of  which  the  petition  sprang,  could  so 
much  as  conjecture  from  it  the  nature  of  his  offence.     Sut- 
cliffe,  five  years  later,  pursuing  Throkmorton  with  proofs  that 
he  was  the  predominant  partner  in  the  Marprelate  brother- 
hood, gleans  none  of  his  facts  from  this  document.     As  an 
example  of   Throkmorton's  petitionary  eloquence  we  may 
glance  at  his  earlier  suit  to  Burleigh,  which  we  have  in  a 
complete  form.1     Its  object  is  discussed  later  on ;  here  we 
desire  only  to  notice  its  cleverness  of  expression  and  its 
mollifying  humility.     If  we  call  to  mind  the  position  of  the 
great  Treasurer,  who,  no  doubt,  had  endeavoured  to  stay  the 
keen  impetuous  tongue  of  the  young  parliamentarian,  for 
the  matter  lying  behind  this  petition  is  connected  with  the 
presentation  of  Penry's  Aequity  to  the  House  of  Commons, 
we  shall  see  the  fitness  of  his  words  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  occasion.     Throkmorton  makes  no  claim  as  deserving  his 
Lordship's  favour.     But  he  adds, '  The  Lesse  desert  the  more 
honor  to  yow.'      He  knows  that  he  is  not  the  first  man  '  by 
many  a  hundred '  to  whom  Burleigh  has  stood  '  an  honor- 
able frynde  wthout  cause  [deserving].'     He  will  not  excuse  his 
fault.    '  I  doe  heere  cowfesse  it  before  yor  L[ordship]  wth  sorrow 
of  harte.'     His  prayer  is  that  it  may  not  be  c  strayned  into 
too  hurtefull  a  sense.'     He  now  knows  how  true  it  is  that 
'  th'  indignation  of  the  Prince  is  death.  ...  I  would  to 

1  These  petitions  are  extant  in  Throkmorton's  autograph,  and  bearing  his 
well-known  signature.  That  addressed  to  Burleigh  (Lansd.  MSS.  53,  71) 
is  endorsed  in  a  later  hand — '  3  Aprill  1587.'  This  endorsement  also  says, 
'  He  with  Penry  and  Udall  had  wrote  scurrilous  books  against  ye  established 
religion.'  The  petition  to  Hatton  (Manchester  Papers,  124)  is  dated  by 
Throkmorton  'At  my  poore  house  at  Haseley  this  14th  October,  1590.'  The 
central  portion  of  the  MS.  is  defective,  but  the  essential  part  of  the  document 
is  intact.  The  two  petitions  are  very  similar  in  form  and  contents. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     217 

Christ  thoase  ccmsyderacions  might  be  some  lenitye  to  her 
Highnesse  indignation  toward  me.'  An  allusion  to  his 
youth  is  contrasted  by  his  prayer  for  Burleigh.  '  The 
same  God  blesse  yor  graye  heares  wth  comforte.' 

The  petition  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  is  marked  by  the 
same  literary  skill,  the  same  deftness  of  phrase,  and  a 
restraint  in  asking,  which  is  the  more  persuasive.  He 
cannot  be  greatly  known  to  his  Lordship.  But  he  flies  to 
him  in  his  need,  '  because  it  is  a  thing  incident  to  every 
honorable  disposition  to  delight  to  do  good  where  no  desert 
went  before.'  He  is  encouraged  by  hearing  of  '  divers  y*  in 
the  like  distresse  have  found  favor  at  [his]  hande.'  He 
mentions  his  submission  '  as  well  to  my  L.  of  Cant,  as  to 
our  Justices  of  Assize.'  In  like  sort  he  humbly  submits 
himself  to  his  Lordship,  'as  the  highest  Magistrate  next 
under  he  Matie,'  and  humbly  beseeches  him  to  be  the  means 
of  his  excuse  '  as  farre  as  you  may  do  it  in  honor.'  He  is 
not  justifying  his  slips  and  infirmities,  though  he  might 
possibly  sufficiently  clear  himself  of  '  th'  indightn^  y*  was 
Lately  found  against  [him]/  calling  vengeance  upon  himself 
and  his  seed  if  ever  he  had  a  felonious  thought  against  her 
Majesty,  yet  knowing  the  Queen's  gracious  disposition 
'  whereof  manie  a  traitor  hath  been  a  sensible  wi[tnesse],' 
he  likes  better  '  to  flye  to  }rt  haven  .  .  .  than  ...  to 
leave  my  shippe  floting  to  the  surges  of  a  doubtful  and 
a  tempestious  sea ' ;  the  larger  part  of  his  eloquent  simile 
is  lost  in  the  decay  of  the  MS. 

Clever  and  effective  as  his  petition  is,  admirably  calcu- 
lated to  attain  its  end,  if  that  end  were  by  petition  attainable, 
yet  knowing  the  bitter,  implacable  hostility  aroused  by  the 
Marprelate  Tracts,  we  feel  at  once  that  no  petition  could  of 
itself  have  shielded  Throkmorton  from  the  wrath  of  the  Pre- 
lates. Compare  his  exculpation  with  the  fate  of  John  Penry, 
whose  own  acknowledged  writings  are  far  more  temperate  in 
their  attack  on  the  episcopacy ;  yet  when  Penry  came  to 
London  a  couple  of  years  later,  and  was  promptly  arrested, 
there  was  never  a  shadow  of  a  hope  of  his  escape.  A  good 
woman  was  cast  into  prison  simply  because  she  accompanied 


218  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Penry's  distressed  wife  when  she  presented  her  pitiful  plea 
for  his  release.  There  being  a  faint  rumour  that  interest 
was  being  made  in  high  quarters  for  his  pardon,  Whitgiffc 
unexpectedly,  and  without  a  day's  warning,  hurried  Penry  to 
his  execution.  It  was  probably  true,  and  may  have  affected 
Throkmorton's  fate,  that  Whitgift  did  not  wish  to  find  that 
any  layman  was  the  author  of  the  tracts.  He  was  obsessed 
with  the  belief  that  Martin  was  a  minister.  He  also 
believed  that  the  leading  reforming  ministers  knew,  not- 
withstanding their  disavowals,  who  he  was.  Hence  his 
unappeasable  anger  against  Udall,  Wigginton,  and  Cart- 
wright.  In  Whitgift's  long  vindictive  schedule  of  articles 
preferred  against  Cartwright  in  July  of  this  same  year 
(1590),  in  which,  by  the  way,  he  complains  of  his  remarks 
when  he  baptised  Job  Throkmorton's  child,  he  prominently 
enters  this  accusation :  '  That  he  knew,  or  had  credibly 
heard,  who  were  the  authors,  printers,  or  the  dispersers  of 
"  Martin  Marprelate,"  "  The  Demonstration  of  Discipline," 
"  Diotrephes,"  and  similar  books,  before  it  was  known  to 
authority ;  yet,  in  favour  of  them,  and  in  contempt  of  the 
laws,  he  made  no  disclosure  to  those  in  authority.' 1 

Some  weight  must  be  given  to  the  kinship  of  the 
Throkmortons  to  Katherine  Parr.  Clement  Throkmorton, 
the  father  of  Job,  was  that  Queen's  cousin.  Both  father 
and  son  had  been  members  of  her  royal  household.  Even 
more  significance  may  be  attached  to  Job's  cousin,  Bess 
Throkmorton,  being  one  of  Elizabeth's  maids  of  honour.  If 
she  were  gifted  with  a  due  share  of  the  vivacity  and 
mother- wit  of  the  Throkmorton  family,  she  may  well  have 
been  a  prime  favourite  with  her  royal  mistress.  She  had 
not  as  yet  committed  the  unpardonable  sin  of  getting 
married.  Two  years  later  she  became  the  wife  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  In  that  year  it  is  also  recorded  that  she 
lost  the  favour  of  the  Queen.  While  she  basked  in  the 
sunshine  of  Elizabeth's  favour,  she  surely  did  something  to 
shield  her  literary  and  reforming  cousin,  Job  Throkmorton, 
from  the  prelatical  wolves. 

1  Fuller,  Ch.  Hist.  (ed.  1655),  book  ix.  p.  200. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     219 

The  next  year  Throkmorton  was  accused  of  being 
identified  with  the  mad  Hacket  affair.  A  desperate  attempt 
was  made  to  connect  the  insane  fiasco  of  Hacket's  attempt 
to  set  up  a  new  theocratic  kingdom,  of  which  he  should 
be  the  inspired  prophet,  with  the  propaganda  of  the 
evangelical  reformers.  Before  understanding  the  nature  of 
Hacket's  designs,  many  were  induced  to  listen  to  his 
fervid  utterances  and  those  of  his  associates  Copinger  and 
Arthington.  But  long  before  Hacket  stood  up  in  a  cart  in 
Cheapside  to  utter  divine  judgment  on  the  existing  order  of 
government,  and  to  declare  the  advent  of  the  new  kingdom, 
the  madness  of  the  affair  was  fully  discovered.  Job  Throk- 
morton, notwithstanding  his  letter  to  Copinger,  a  man  only 
less  demented  than  the  illiterate  Hacket  himself,  written 
before  he  knew  what  Copinger  was  about,  easily  exonerated 
himself.  The  judge  at  the  Warwick  Assizes  pronounced 
the  charge  to  be  '  frivolous.' l 

Section  II. — The  Episcopal  Literary  Free-Lances  and 
Cross-Bench  Writers 

1.  Whitgifts  (  Letters  of  Marque! — It  was  soon  apparent 
to  the  more  practical  members  of  the  episcopal  circle,  that 
writers  of  the  calibre  of  John  Bridges,  Dean  of  Sarum,  and 
his  diocesan  Thomas  Cooper,  were  no  match  in  a  popular 
controversy  for  the  brilliant  and  daring  writer  who  had 
entered  the  fray  on  behalf  of  the  persecuted  reformers. 
Bishop  Cooper's  Admonition  to  the  People  simply  gave  the 
opportunity  to  Martin  Marprelate  to  write  HAY  ANY 
WOKKE  FOE  THE  COOPER,  the  very  title  of  which,  a  well- 
known  London  street-cry,  was  a  popular  hit.  To  none  did 
the  ineffectiveness  of  the  official  rejoinders  appear  more 
clear  than  to  Bancroft.  Hampered  by  no  fastidious  scruples 
about  the  make  of  the  weapon  by  which  so  dangerous  a  foe 
might  be  stricken  down,  so  long  as  stricken  down  he  was, 
and  not  likely  to  rise  again,  he  boldly  proposed  to  Whitgift 
the  employment  of  light-handed  professional  scribes,  young 

1  Colvile's  Warwickshire  Worthies,  753. 


220  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

university  wits  wielding  facile  pens,  and  carrying  about  an 
armoury  of  quips  and  quiddities,  but  with  a  fatal  tendency 
to  flavour  their  literary  raillery  with  ribald  allusions  and 
positive  grossness. 

It  is  true  that  Martin  had  brought  wit  and  banter  and 
a  keen  irony  into  a  religious  controversy,  and  had  justified 
himself  in  employing  these  literary  arts.  He  employed 
them  to  arrest  public  attention.  Nevertheless  his  purpose 
never  remains  in  doubt.  He  is  fully  qualified  to  enter  into 
the  religious  argument.  We  quickly  discover  that  the 
likeness  between  Martin  and  the  literary  mercenaries  who 
attacked  him  is  only  superficial.  For  wit  and  satire  only 
advance  great  moral  causes  when  inspired  by  strong  and 
moving  convictions.  The  literary  privateers  sent  forth 
under  the  episcopal  '  letters  of  marque '  were  innocent 
enough  of  any  such  convictions.  Martin  may,  on  the 
contrary,  be  likened  to  a  great  caricaturist  of  our  own 
day,  the  effectiveness  of  whose  graphic  wit  is  due  to  the 
serious  convictions  to  which  they  give  such  entertaining 
expression. 

Gaining  the  Archbishop's  consent  to  his  scheme,  Bancroft 
had  to  supply  his  hacks  with  a  brief.  They  did  not  trouble 
themselves  with  any  study  of  the  ecclesiastical  questions 
at  issue,  and  he  was  wise  enough  not  to  require  any 
such  unfamiliar  work  at  their  hands.  They  were  to 
condemn  Martin's  writings,  first  as  seditious,  and  next  as 
blasphemous.  The  attack  of  Martin  was  upon  the  Bishops 
and  their  administration.  But  the  Bishops  were  first  of  all 
appointed  by  the  Queen  ;  hence  the  treason.  But  following 
the  congi  d'dire  was  the  ecclesiastical  election  and  ordina- 
tion. As  Martin  would  say,  the  Bishops  themselves 
confessed  that  they  were  divinely  called  to  their  office; 
therefore  Martin  was  guilty  of  blasphemy.  Minor  points 
were  that  the  '  seekers  after  reformation '  were  really  seekers 
after  the  Bishops'  revenues ;  that  they  countenanced  a 
democratic  rule  in  Church  affairs,  and,  by  inevitable  con- 
sequence, in  civil  affairs  also.  Then  they  were  to  be  classed 
with  Anabaptists,  with  the  Family  of  Love,  and  later  with 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     221 

the  mad  Hacket's  Bedlam  revolution.1  If  the  derogatory 
stories  about  the  Prelates  and  certain  of  the  clergy  could 
be  paralleled  by  defamatory  gossip  about  sanctimonious 
Puritans,  let  them  by  all  means  be  daintily  dressed  up  for 
the  delectation  of  the  roisterers  at  the  ale-bench  and  the 
unshaven  multitude  at  large. 

Moreover,  the  illiterate  could  be  reached  by  the  comedians 
and  buffoons  on  the  public  stage.  A  scarecrow  Martin 
could  easily  be  anatomised,  to  the  infinite  amusement  of 
the  populace.  The  impression  would  be  sufficiently  con- 
vincing to  the  class  that  regarded  letters  as  the  counters  of 
black  magic,  and  grammatical  rules  as  flat  blasphemy. 

2.  Martin  on  the  Stage. — It  would  seem  that  before  the 
close  of  the  year  1588,  or  at  any  rate  quite  early  in  1589, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  kill  the  popularity  of  Martin  by 
coarsely  ridiculing  him  upon  the  stage.  In  the  THESES 
MARTINIANAE  there  is  a  reference  to  those  who  affirmed 
that  '  the  rimers  and  stage-players '  had  '  clean  put  [Martin] 
out  of  countenance/  so  that  he  dare  not  again  show  his  face. 
But  the  Bishops  themselves  would  expect  Martin  to  '  con- 
temn such  kennel-rakers  and  scullions  as  ...  have  sold 
themselves'  to  be  laughed  at  on  the  stage  by  all  comers  as 
'  a  company  of  disguised  asses.' 2  And  the  assumed  character 
'Martin  Senior'  is  made  to  say  that  had  not  his  younger 
brother  (that  is  '  Martin  Junior '  in  the  THESES)  rushed 
incontinently  into  the  fray,  the  Bishops  would  have  been 
content  to  turn  from  the  serious  aspects  of  the  case  ' to  a 
point  of  jesting,  wherewith  they  would  have  only  rimers 
and  stage-players  (that  is,  plain  rogues  as  thou  hast  well 
noted)  to  deal.' 3  Martin  himself  can  but  condole  with  the 

1  Pasquill  thus  sets  down  the  '  vpstart  Religions  '  in  England.      They  are 
'  The  Anabaptists  ;   the  Familie  of  Lone  ;    the  seauen  capitall  hseresies  for 
which  some  haue  beeue  executed  of  late  yeeres  in  Suffolke  ;  the  diversities 
of  Puritans  and  Martinists,  wyth  a  number  more  which  you  shall  heare  of 
when  that  Booke  [his  promised  Lives  of  the  Saints]  is  printed.' — Pasquill' s 
Returne,  A  3  vers.      '  Since  God  led  his  Church  in  this  Land  out  of  the 
bondage  of  Rome  by  the  conduct  of  her  excellent  Maiestie,  there  neuer  yet 
wanted  Papist,  Atheist,   Brownist,   Martinist,   Anabaptist,   nor  Familie  of 
Loue  to  bid  them  bataille,  that  their  course  to  Gods  Kingdome  might  be 
stopt.' — Ibid.  C  4  vers. 

2  THESES,  D  2.  3  JUST  CENSURE,  A  2. 


222  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

players,  who  '  for  one  poor  penny '  have  to  sustain  the  part 
of  '  ignominious  fools  for  an  hour  or  two  together/  The 
publicity  of  the  performance  only  added  to  their  hard  lot. 
There  were  '  many  thousand  eye-witnesses  of  their  witless 
and  pitiful  conceits.' l 

These  farces  were  performed,  if  we  follow  a  note  in 
Pappe  with  an  Hatchet?  at  St.  Paul's,  by  the  choir  children ; 
at  the  Theater,  a  play-house  near  Finsbury ;  and  also  at 
St.  Thomas  as  Waterings  in  Southwark.  None  of  the  plays 
have  survived ;  happily,  we  may  add,  for  they  contributed 
nothing  to  the  glory  of  literature  or  the  stage.  It  was  a 
matter  of  indifference  that  Martin  was  '  attired  like  an  Ape 
on  ye  stage.'  3  He  also  appeared  in  a  contemptible  make-up, 
and  was  '  then  whipt,  that  made  him  winse,  then  worm'd 
and  launced.'  '  He  took  verie  grieuouslie  to  be  made  a 
Maygame  vpon  the  Stage.' 4  Again  he  was  '  verie  well ' 
brought  in  'with  a  cocks  combe,  an  apes  face,  a  wolfs 
bellie,  cats  claws,  etc/  5  '  Pasquill '  tells  us  that  he  '  thought 
Vetus  Comcedia  beganne  to  prick  him  at  London  in  the 
right  vaine,  when  shee  brought  foorth  Diuinitie  wyth  a 
scracht  face,  holding  of  her  heart  as  if  she  were  sike, 
because  Martin  would  have  forced  her ;  but  myssing  of  his 
purpose  he  left  the  print  of  his  nayles  vppon  her  cheekes 
and  poysoned  her  with  a  vomit  which  he  ministered  vnto 
her,  to  make  her  cast  vppe  her  dignities  and  promotions/  6 
Enough  has  been  quoted  to  indicate  the  indecency  and  gross- 
ness  of  the  performances  which  led  to  their  prohibition. 

Pasquill  says  he  has  '  a  tale  to  tell  [  Vetus  Comcedia]  in 
her  eare  of  the  slye  practise  that  was  used  in  restraining 
her/7  No  doubt  some  person  of  consequence  sent  his 
complaint  to  Master  Tylney,  some  time  in  October.8  Strype, 
in  his  edition  of  Stowe's  Survey,  says  that  it  was  not 
unusual  for  companies  of  players  to  be  put  down  '  upon  any 
gentleman's  complaint  of  them  for  abuses  or  indecent 
reflection';  and  refers  to  the  year  1589,  when  'the  Lord 

1  THESES,  D  2  vers.  2  Sig.  D  3,  marg. 

3  Almond  for  a  Parrat,  Peth.  p.  22.         4  Martins  Months  Minde,  Sig  E. 

6  Pappe  with  an  Hatchet,  D  2.  6  Pasquill's  Returne,  C  3  vers. 

7  Ibid.  D  3  vers.  8  Pasquill 's  Returne  is  dated  Oct.  20,  1589. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     223 

Admiral's  and  Lord  Strange's  men  were  silenced,  '  because 
one  Mr.  Tilney  had  utterly  for  some  reason  disliked  them.' l 
Edmund  Tylney  was  Master  of  the  Eevels,  and  had  the 
supervision  of  the  public  conduct  of  the  players.  He  sent 
his  complaint  in  connection  with  the  representation  of 
Martin  on  the  stage  to  Lord  Burghley,  who  ordered  the 
Lord  Mayor,  John  Hart,  to  suppress  all  theatrical  perform- 
ances within  his  jurisdiction.  We  have  Lord  Mayor  Hart's 
respectful  reply,  reporting  that  '  the  Lord  Admiralls  players 
very  dutifullie  obeyed,'  but  that  '  the  Lord  Straunges 
players '  went  off  '  in  very  contemptuous  manner,'  and  at 
the  Cross  Keys  'played  that  after  noone  to  the  greate 
offence  of  the  better  sorte.'  Whereupon  the  Lord  Mayor 
cast  '  tow  of  them  into  one  of  the  Compters.'  Six  days 
later  the  Privy  Council  addressed  letters  to  the  Master  of 
the  Eevels,  the  Archbishop,  and  the  Lord  Mayor  respectively. 
The  Archbishop  is  required  to  appoint  '  some  fytt  person, 
well  learned  in  Diuinytie,'  to  be  associated  with  Tylney  and 
a  nominee  of  the  Lord  Mayor's  to  examine  plays  intended 
for  public  performance,  and  to  '  stryke  out,  or  reforme,  such 
parte  or  matters  as  they  shall  fynd  unfytt  and  undecent  to 
be  handled  in  plaies.' 2  There  were  several  plays  prepared 
for  this  attack  on  Martin  which  failed  to  pass  the  examiners, 
so  that  we  may  easily  surmise  their  character.  If  John 
Lyly  was  the  author  of  Pappe  with  an  Hatchet,  he  may  have 
been  lamenting  over  his  own  compositions  when  he  wrote, 
'Would  [that]  those  Comedies  might  be  allowed  to  be 
plaied  that  are  pend,  and  then  I  am  sure  [Martin]  would 
be  decyphered,  and  so  perhaps  discouraged.'3 

3.  The  Mood  of  Anti-Martinist  Literature. — Bancroft's 
brigade  were  soon  busy,  (a)  Judging  its  character  from 
its  title,  Martyn  said  to  his  man,  whoe  is  the  foole  nowe,  a 
ballad  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  on  Nov.  9,  1588,  was 
the  early  intimation  of  what  was  forthcoming. 

1  Collier's  Annals  of  the  Stage,  i.  264. 

2  Ibid.  271  et  seq.     The  letters  are  printed  in  Petheram's  notes  to  Pappe 
with  an  Hatchet.     The  matter  has  a  passing  interest  owing  to  the  protest 
lately  made  against  the  action  of  our  own  licenser  of  plays. 

3  Op.  cit.  D  2  vers. 


224  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

(b)  The  next  effort  was  also  in  verse.  It  bore  the  title 
Mar-Martine,  and  consisted  of  seven  pages  of  doggerel  of  the 
poorest  type,  and  occasionally  offensive.  Its  title-page  bore 
the  lines — 

I  know  not  why  a  trueth  in  rime  set  out 
Maie  not  as  wel  mar  Martine  and  his  mates 
As  shamelesse  lies  in  prose-books  cast  about  ' 
Mar  priests  and  prelates,  and  subvert  whole  states 
For  where  truth  builds  and  lying  overthrows 
One  truth  in  rime  is  worth  ten  lies  in  prose. 

In  the  THESES,  Martin  Junior  exhorts  his  'reverend 
Father '  to  '  feare  none  of  these  beasts,  these  pursuivants, 
these  Mar-Martins,  these  stage-players,  these  prelates,  these 
popes,  these  devils,  and  all  they  can  do.' l  He  notes  that 
they  are  boasting  that  '  the  rimers  and  stage-players '  have 
put  him  '  clean  out  of  countenance.' 2  Judging  by  his  rime, 
Martin  Junior  guesses  Mar-Martin  was  brought  up  in  a 
brothel,  and  thinks  his  proper  employment  must  have  been 
to  carry  the  laundry-basket  for  Long  Meg  of  Westminster, 
a  notorious  character  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. ;  but  he 
is  now  looking  for  preferment  by  'publishing  bawdry  and 
filthiness,  for  the  defence  of  these  honest  bishops.' 3  Martin 
Senior  in  THE  JUST  CENSURE  also  girds  at  him  and  imitates 
his  rimes — they  are  a  little  better  workmanship  than  the 
original.  He  adds  Mar-Martin's  epitaph,  including  his  last 
confession  on  the  top  of  a  gibbet.4  The  bantering  imitation 
is  not  altogether  bad,  but  it  was  not  worth  doing.  We 
are  able  to  fix  very  closely  the  date  of  Mar-Martine.  On 
the  last  page  of  HAY  ANY  WORKE  we  have  the  words, 
Anglia  Martinis  disce  favere  tuis.  These  words  are  quoted 
by  the  author  of  Mar-Martine?  which  determines  that  he 
wrote  subsequent  to  March  22,  1589.  We  have  next  an 
early  and  certainly  a  very  interesting  reference  to  the 
appearance  of  the  tract  in  the  memoranda  of  a  Jesuit  spy 
in  this  country.  His  notes  are  dated  June  1589.  He 

1  Sig.  D  1  vers.  2  Ibid.  D  2. 

3  Ibid.  D  2  rect.  and  vers.  4  Sig.  D  ii.  vers.  D  iii. 

6  In  the  margin  of  A  3  vers.,  though  it  has  almost  disappeared  from  the 
British  Museum  copy,  which  is  badly  cropped. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     225 

reports  accurately  enough  that  the  division  between 
'  puritanes  and  protestants '  is  only  about  church  govern- 
ment— that  is,  external  polity.  '  Some  meane  persons/  he 
says,  'have  been  committed  (to  prison)'  for  'presenting 
supplications  to  the  Quene  touching  matters,  which  are 
referred  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.'  Then  he 
proceeds  to  note  that  '  there  hath  bene  published  certen 
bookes  under  the  name  of  martin  marprelate  in  a  scoffing 
stile '  concerning  '  the  dignitye  of  Bishoppes.'  They  are 
everywhere  spoken  about.  An  injunction  had  been 
issued  against  such  books.  '  There  is  also  a  boke  in  rime 
called  marmartine  published,  to  be  sold  in  every  booke 
binders  shoppe,  so  as  it  semeth  to  be  cum  privilegio  thowgh 
it  be  not  so  sett  downe.  But  it  is  not  unlike  but  this  fire 
will  make  a  greater  flame  and  reache  further  than  yett  it 
doth.' *  We  may  therefore  conclude  that  the  pamphlet  was 
issued  in  May  1589. 

(c)  A  solemn  Latin  admonition,  addressed  to  the  young 
men  of  the  universities,  entitled  Anti-Martinus,  may  be 
passed  over  briefly.  It  is  written  on  the  correct  episcopal 
lines  and  is  illustrated  by  historical  examples  from  ancient 
times.  Couched  in  Latin,  its  lavish  use  of  superlatives  is 
the  more  obvious.  It  describes  the  turpitude  of  Martin 
and  his  fellows,  and  the  excellence  of  the  religious  order 
established  by  such  a  virtuous  Queen,  through  the  means  of 
such  holy  prelates.  '  You  see,  therefore,  learned  youths, 
this  Martin  will  not  only  have  turned  aside  so  many 
religious  men  from  piety ;  but  has  exceeded  by  vast 
degrees — immensis  spaciis — the  wickedness  of  the  atheists 
themselves.  For  truly  he  esteemed  it  not  to  be  enough 
that  he  should  pride  himself  in  his  new,  though  according 
to  our  leaders,  by  no  means  eminent,  discipline,  unless  also 
he  should  attack  the  lives  of  our  sacred  Prelates,  and 
shamefully  exhibit  the  character  of  these  very  persons  as  fit 
to  be  scoffed  at  by  the  abandoned  wretches  of  his  sect.' 2 

1  S.  P.  Dom.  Add.  Eliz.  xxxi.     This  wretchedly  written  MS.  has  only 
been  deciphered  by  the  considerable  aid  of  the  summary  in  the  Calendar. 

2  Anti-Martinus,  14.     It  is  a  4to  of  40  pp.,  dated  1589,  and  signed  at  the 
end  A.  L.     It  was  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  on  July  3rd  (Arber). 

Q 


226  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

(d)  During  the  second  half  of  the  year  1589  the 
professional  literary  men,  the  chief  of  them  being  Tom 
Nash,  a  man  worthy  of  a  better  occupation,  and  John 
Lyly,  the  euphuist,  sent  forth  pamphlet  after  pamphlet  in 
swift  succession,  all  more  or  less  patterned  after  the  style 
of  Martin ;  but  differing  from  the  tracts  they  assailed  in 
two  outstanding  features.  They  betray  no  interest  or 
acquaintance  with  the  religious  issue,  which  to  Martin  was 
vital ;  they  also  sully  their  pages  with  a  grossness  altogether 
foreign  to  the  Martinist  spirit.  It  is  amazing  that  the 
Archbishop  permitted  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  Bancroft 
that  such  literary  garbage  could  help  the  interests  of  an 
institution  professing  to  be  religious.  Nash,  by  the  common 
consent  of  his  contemporaries,  was  the  writer  who  adopted 
the  pseudonym  Pasquill,  or  Pasquine.  The  title  of  the 
first  pamphlet  runs  :  A  Countercuffe  giuen  to  Martin  Junior : 
by  the  venturous,  hardie,  and  renowned  Pasquill  of  England, 
Caualiero.  Not  of  olde  Martins  making,  which  newlie 
knighted  the  Saints  in  Heauen,  with  rise  vp  Sir  Peter  and 
Sir  Paule  ;  *  But  lately  dubd  for  his  service  at  home  in  the 
defence  of  his  Countrey,  and  for  the  clean  breaking  of  his 
Staffe  vppon  Martins  face.  He  also  imitates  Martin's  mock 
printer's  references.  '  Printed  Betweene  the  skye  and  the 
grounde,  Within  a  myle  of  an  Oake,  and  not  many  fieldes 
of[f],  from  the  vnpriuiledged  Presse  of  Ass-ignes  of  Martin 
Junior.'  It  is  a  slight  affair  of  a  single  sheet,  quarto, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  a  preliminary  flourish.  Pasquill 
promises  to  print  a  volume  of  The  Lives  of  the  Saints,  and 
advertises  its  contents  with  a  few  examples.  One  may 
here  suffice.  A  reverend  elder,  he  says,  of  Martin's  church 
— whichever  that  may  be — had  in  keeping  '  the  stocke  of 
the  poore '  belonging  to  the  Bridewell  House  of  Canterbury, 
to  be  used  '  to  set  men  awork.'  But  he  was  obliged  to  keep 
it  himself,  because  there  were  no  poor  folk  of  the  household 
of  the  faith  in  that  city.  This  is  poor  wit  compared  with 
Martin's  allusion  to  his  '  learned  brother  |  D[octor]  Yong  | 

1  For  Martin's  use  of  Sir  for  Saint  see  THE  EPISTLE,  14,  15,  marg.  ;  and 
especially  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  1  ff. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     227 

Bish.  of  Kochester  |  (who)  hauing  the  presentation  of  a 
benefice  in  his  hand  |  presented  himselfe  thereunto  |  euen 
of  naeere  goodwil.  /,  John  of  Rochester  |  present  John  Young 
quoth  the  Bishop.' 1 

(e)  The  next  issue  of  the  episcopal  press  was  a  poetical 
effusion  which  exists  in  two  editions,  identical  except  in 
their  titles.  It  was  first  sent  forth  as  A  Whip  for  an  Ape 
or  Martin  displased,  and  then  made  more  explicit  by  the 
new  title,  Rythmes  against  Martin  Marre- Prelate.  It  con- 
sists of  a  single  sheet  in  quarto,  and  contains  twenty-six 
stanzas,  printed  in  B.L.  The  following  is  a  sample.  It  is 
the  ninth  stanza. 

Good  Noddie  now  leaue  scribling  in  such  matters, 
They  are  no  tooles  for  fooles  to  tend  vnto  ; 

Wise  men  regard  riot  what  made  Monckies  patters  ; 
'Twere  trim  a  beast  should  teach  men  what  to  do. 

Now  Tarletons  dead  the  Consort  lacks  a  vice, 

For  knave  and  fool  thou  maist  beare  pricke  and  price. 

Richard  Tarleton,  the  famous  comedian,  died  the  previous 
September.  He  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  humorous 
men  that  ever  appeared  upon  the  stage.  Martin  is  often 
accused  of  jesting  like  Tarleton. 

(/)  Nash  soon  returned  to  the  fray  with  The  Returne  of 
the  Renowned  Caualiero  Pasquill  of  England  from  the  other 
side  of  the  Seas  and  his  meeting  with  Marforius  at  London 
vpon  the  Royall  Exchange.  It  is  a  quarto  of  thirty  pages 
of  print,  and  is  dated  the  20th  October  1589.  He  has 
received  good  news  from  Marforius  concerning  the  success 
of  the  Countercuffe,  and  learns  how  anxious  all  are  to  know 
who  he  is.  Having  been  himself  'once  a  Barbour  in 
Rome,'  goodwill  to  his  old  occupation  caused  him  to  enter 
'  Sprignols  shop '  on  reaching  London ;  and  there  he  heard 
two  or  three  gentlemen,  while  they  were  being  trimmed, 
speaking  '  of  a  Martinist,  a  Broker '  who  had  run  away  with 
goods  belonging  to  other  men.  But  they  sin  more  deeply. 
For  example,  and  it  is  Tom  Nash  let  us  remember  who  is 
speaking,  he  professes  deep  veneration  for  the  Book  of 
1  THE  EPISTLE,  11. 


228  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Books.  '  I  haue  that  volume  in  my  hands  when  many  a 
Martinist  hugges  a  drabbe  in  his  armes,  as  you  shall  per- 
ceiue  by  the  lives  of  the  saints.' l  Martin  is  an  innovator 
in  religion,  and  how  dangerous  innovations  are  in  religion 
'  Secretarie  Machiavell '  has  shown  '  by  the  example  of  Fryer 
Sauonarroll.  He  was  a  man  like  Martin.'  The  likeness  to 
Savonarola  would  not  be  esteemed  so  disgraceful  to-day. 
Pasquill  fears  the  rising  of  the  masses  under  the  instigation 
of  Martin.  They  need  no  help  of  Martin  or  Travers  '  to 
encrease  their  giddines.' 2  He  is  going  to  publish  The  May- 
games  of  Martinisme,  and  indicates  the  parts  to  be  played 
by  Penry,  '  the  foregallant  of  the  Morrice ' ;  Martin,  as 
'Mayd-marian  in  Dame  Lawsons  old  clothes,'  and  by 
Wigginton  and  Paget.3  The  conclusion  comes  with  '  Pas- 
quill's  Protestation  vppon  London  Stone,' 4  and  a  flippant 
scolding  address  to  '  Martin  the  great.' 5 

(g)  Sometime  in  November  John  Lyly's  contribution  was 
published  under  the  title,  Pappe  with  an  hatchet?  Alias,  A 
figge  for  my  God  Sonne.  Or  Cracke  me  this  nut.  Or  A 
Countrie  cuffe,  that  is,  a  sound  boxe  of  the  eare,  for  the  idiot 
Martin,  etc.  Imprinted  ly  John  AnoJce,  and  John  Astile, 
for  the  Bayliue  of  Withernam,  cum  priuilegio  perennitatis, 
and  are  to  lee  sold  at  the  signe  of  the  crab  tree  cudgell  in 
thwackcoate  lane.  It  is  a  pamphlet  of  thirty-eight  pages, 
in  a  small  quarto.  It  has  no  real  bearing  on  the  subject 
at  issue  between  Martin  and  the  Prelates.  It  mostly  con- 
sists of  banter  and  badinage,  verbal  quiddities,  the  wit  of 
which  must  be  pronounced  to  be  not  overwhelming,  and 
not  infrequently  unclean.  In  one  of  his  less  frivolous 
paragraphs  he  says — 

Martin,  wee  are  now  following  after  thee  with  hue  and  crie, 
and  are  hard  at  thy  heeles ;  if  thou  turne  backe  to  blade  it,  wee 
doubt  not  but  three  honest  men  shall  bee  able  to  beate  sixe 
theeves.  Weele  teach  thee  to  commit  sacriledge,  and  to  robbe 

1  Sig.  A  iii.  vers.  2  Sig.  B  i.-iii.  3  Sig.  B.  iii.  vers. 

*  The  interesting  note  is  given  that   '  jester-night  late   olde   Martins 
Protestation  in  Octavo  was  brought  (him).' 
6  Sig.  D  iii.  vers,  D  iv. 
6  That  is  soft  food  administered  in  a  hard  way. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     229 

the  Church  of  xxiiij  Bishops  at  a  bio  we.1  Boost  thinke  that  wee 
are  not  men  Martin,  and  haue  great  men  to  defend  vs  which 
write  ?  Yes,  although  with  thy  seditious  cloase  [clothes]  thou 
would'st  perswade  her  Maiestie,  that  most  of  the  Gentlemen  of 
account  and  honour,  were  by  vs  thought  Puritanes.  No  it  is 
your  poore  lohns  [inferior  clergy]  that  with  your  painted  con- 
sciences haue  coloured  the  religion  of  diuers,  spreading  through 
the  veynes  of  the  Commonwealth  like  poyson,  the  doggednes  of 
your  deuotions,  which  entring  in  like  the  smoothnes  of  oyle  into 
the  flesh,  fretteth  in  time  like  quicksiluer  in  the  bones.2 

Pappe  with  an  Hatchet  contains  interesting  references  to 
the  campaign  against  Martin  on  the  stage,  to  which  earlier 
attention  has  been  directed. 

(h)  Bearing  on  its  title-page  the  year  1589,  and  of  the 
same  company  as  the  foregoing,  a  pamphlet  appeared  pur- 
porting to  give  an  account  of  the  death  of  Martin.  It  was 
entitled  Martins  Months  Mind,3  That  is,  A  Certaine  report, 
a  true  declaration  of  the  Death  and  Funeralls  of  olde  Martin 
Marre-pr elate,  the  great  makebate  of  England  and  father  of 
factions.  Contayning  the  cause  of  his  death,  the  manner  of 
his  l)uriall,  and  the  right  copies  both  of  his  Will,  and  of  such 
Epitaphs,  as  by  sundrie  his  dearest  friends,  and  other  of  his 
well  willers  were  framed  for  him. 

Martin  the  ape,  the  dronke,  and  the  madde 
The  three  Martins  are,  ivhose  workes  we  have  had, 
If  Martin  the  fourth  come,  after  Martins  so  euill 
Nor  man,  nor  beast  comes,  but  Martin  the  devill. 

It  contains  neither  author's  nor  printer's  name,  and 
is  a  small  quarto  of  sixty -three  pages.  The  long  title 
sufficiently  indicates  the  character  of  its  contents.  Concern- 
ing the  death  of  Martin  the  wish  inspired  the  chronicler's 
imagination,  doubtless.  A  prefatory  epistle  is  dedicated  to 

1  The  number  given  in  the  MINEKALLS,  §§  12,  33,  37. 

2  Sig.  0  iv.  vers.  D  i. 

3  Months  Mind — a  yearning  remembrance  ;  the  name  given  to  a  memorial 
service  for  the  dead  a  month  after  their  decease.     There  was  also  a  service 
of  the  like  character  at  the  end  of  the  year.     The  will  of  Richard  Knightley, 
Knt.   of  Fawsley,   1528,  gives  strict  orders  for  'masses  of  requiem  at  my 
months  mind  in  the  parish  church  of  Ffaullesley — after  the  order  of  Saint 
Gregorius,  and  another  at  my  yeares  mind.' — Kennett's  MSS.  1046,  p.  398, 
quoted  in  Baker's  Hist,  of  N'hants,  i.  380. 


230  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

'  Pasquine  of  England.'  Then  comes  an  '  Epistle  to  the 
Reader,'  chiefly  concerned  with  the  writer's  views  on  the 
two  Wolston  tracts,  THESES,  and  A  JUST  CENSURE.  '  The 
True  report  of  the  death  and  buriall '  professes  to  give 
Martin's  death-bed  repentance.  Martin  confesses  that  in 
three  things  he  has  offended  God  and  the  world :  '  foolerie,' 
'  ribandrie/  and  '  blaspheraie.'  It  is  interesting  to  note  the 
particulars  under  these  heads.  The  '  foolerie '  consists  of 
the  stories  about  'Sir  Jefries  Aletub/  and  of  Gammer 
Gurtons  needle,  of  'beef  and  brues  [brewis]/  etc.  Under 
'  ribandrie '  we  have  a  list  of  the  bad  names  which  Martin 
has  called  the  Bishops.  But  more  interesting  than  all  is 
the  proof  of  the  '  blasphemie  ' ;  for  writers  upon  Martin,  who, 
it  may  be  charitably  supposed,  have  not  read  the  tracts, 
and  are  only  copying  earlier  writers,  that,  in  a  long  succes- 
sion, have  copied  one  another  from  the  days  when  Martins 
Months  Mind  was  written,  still  accuse  him  of  blasphemy. 
However,  all  we  find  is  that  Martin  calls  the  saints  '  sir/ 
not  sparing  even  the  mother  of  Christ.  The  account  of 
Martin's  will,  etc.,  may  be  summarily  dismissed.  Whatever 
of  wit  these  pages  were  once  supposed  to  have,  has  long 
since  evaporated. 

(i)  The  last  contribution  to  this  side  of  the  question  to 
be  included  in  the  publications  of  1589,  is  A  Myrror  for 
Martinists,  And  all  other  Schismatiques,  which  in  these 
daungerous  daies  doe  breake  the  godlie  vnitie  and  disturb  the 
Christian  peace  of  the  Church  (by  T[homas]  T[ur swell]). 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  on  Dec.  22nd,  Wolf,  the 
printer,  dates  its  title-page  1590.  In  character  it  is  grave, 
and  scriptural  in  its  argument.  It  runs  on  the  accepted 
lines  of  defence  and  contains  nothing  new  or  noteworthy. 

4.  Cross- Bench  Writers. — It  is  not  astonishing  in  this 
great  controversy  that  we  should  find  between  the  two 
fighting  wings  a  '  centre '  party,  occupying  more  or  less 
neutral  cross-benches ;  men  inclined  to  say  '  a  plague  o' 
both  your  houses ' ;  not  approving  of  the  episcopal  policy, 
and  not  liking  the  denunciations  of  either  Bishops  or 
Martinists.  And  (probably)  before  the  end  of  the  month 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     231 

of  December,  two  efforts  at  mediating  between  the  contend- 
ing parties  were  made,  (a)  First  came  a  quarto  half-sheet 
of  poetry,  in  B.L.  Its  title  is  an  epitome  of  its  contents, 
and  runs — Marre  Mar-Martin,  or,  Marre-Martins  medling, 
in  a  manner  misliked. 

Martins  vaine  prose,  Marre-Martin  doth  mislilce, 
Reason  (forsooth\  for  Martin  seeks  debate, 
Marre  Martin  will  not  so  ;  yet  doth  his  patience  strike  : 
Last  verse,  first  prose,  conclude  in  one  selfe  hate : 
Both  maintaine  strife,  vnfitting  Englands  state. 
Martin,  Marre-Martin, Barrow  ioyned  with  Browne 
Shew  zeale  :  yet  striue  to  pull  Religion  downe,1 

One  verse  in  addition  to  the  above  will  fully  inform  the 
reader  as  to  the  character  of  this  trifle. 

While  England  falles  a  Martining  and  a  marring 
Keligion  feares  an  vtter  overthrowe, 
Whilst  we  at  home  among  our  selues  are  iarring, 
Those  seedes  take  roote  which  foraign  seedes  men  sow. 
If  this  be  true,  as  true  it  is  for  certen, 
Wo  worth  Martin  Marprelate  and  Mar-marten. 

(b)  The  second  of  the  mediating  tracts  is  entitled,  Plaine 
Percevall  the  Peace-Maker  of  England.  Sweetly  indevoring 
with  his  blunt  persuasions  to  botch  vp  a  Reconciliation  betiueen 
Mar-ton  and  Mar-tother.  Compiled  by  lawfull  art,  that  is 
to  say,  without  witch  craft,  or  sorcery :  and  referred  specially 
to  the  Meridian  and  pole  Artichoke  of  Normans  Land :  but 
may  serue  generally  without  any  great  error,  for  more 
Countries  then  He  speake  of.  '  Ouis  furor  aut  hos,  \  Aut  hos 
arma  sequi  ferrumque  lacessere  iussit.'  Printed  in  Broad- 
streete  at  the  signe  of  the  PacJc-staffe.  It  is  a  quarto  of 
twenty-seven  pages,  the  body  of  the  tract  being  printed  in 
B.L.  It  has  no  date  nor  printer's  or  author's  name.  It 
was  formerly  ascribed  to  Nash,  a  strangely  uncritical  judg- 
ment. Markell  correcting  that  error,  calls  it  '  a  last  gasp 
of  the  Puritans,'  a  judgment  not  less  strange  and  uncritical. 
If  there  be  any  bias  on  the  tract,  it  is  by  no  means  in 

1  The  two  copies  seen  hy  me  have,  after  the  word   'Printed/  at  the  foot 
of  the  title-page,  a  piece  of  the  page  neatly  cut  out. 


232  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

favour  of  the  Puritans — certainly  it  shows  no  especial 
favour  to  Martin  and  his  abetters.  Nor  were  there  any 
symptoms  of  a  condition  of  '  last  gasp '  about  the  '  seekers 
after  Reformation.'  It  is  true  that  the  fierce,  active,  and 
unrelenting  censorship  made  it  difficult,  though  not  quite 
impossible,  for  them  to  appear  in  print.  At  the  same  time 
throughout  the  administration  of  Whitgift,  they  continued 
to  increase  in  numbers  and  influence. 

Plaine  Perceval  contains  allusions  to  Martin's  PROTESTA- 
TYON,  to  Mar-Martine  and  Mar-Mar -Martin,  to  c  Pasquill ' 
and  to  Pappe  with  an  Hatchet.  Like  the  Lily  and 
Nash  pamphlets  it  runs  to  seed  in  mere  words  and 
literary  antics.  Its  general  contention  is  that  arguments 
do  not  change  convictions  and  reconcile  opponents.  Per- 
ceval doubts  somewhat  the  sincerity  of  both  sides.  Martin 
uses  the  word  '  Reformation '  too  frequently ;  Perceval  sus- 
pects that  he  is  sometimes  inspired  by  other  motives  than  a 
desire  for  Reformation.  The  combatants  belong  to  the  same 
land,  and  he  doubts  not  to  the  same  Church  and  urges  their 
reconciliation.  '  Well  then  Martin,  and  you  professed  Mar- 
Martins,  in  presence  of  me  Perceuall  shake  handes  and  be 
friendes.  ...  As  for  thine  offence  Martin,  of  higher  Powers, 
I  dare  vndertake,  the  Bishops  seeke  no  blood,  so  as  thy  rash 
attempt  might  be  qualified  with  submission/  *  No  staunch 
Puritan,  no  Martinist,  no  Separatist,  would  have  written 
this  last  sentence.  Nothing  would  have  induced  them  to 
trust  at  all  to  the  compassion  of  Whitgift  or  Aylmer,  or  of 
any  of  the  leading  bishops  specially  favoured  at  Court. 
The  writer  has  been  conjectured  to  be  one  of  the  Harvey 
brothers,  and  Petheram,  in  the  Introduction  to  his  edition  of 
Plaine  Percevall,  points  out  the  significant  fact,  that  in  the 
poetic  commendations  at  its  close,  there  occur  the  lines — 

If  any  aske  why  thou  are  clad  so  garish, 
Say  thou  art  dubd  the  forehorse  of  the  parish. 

Again,    in    Gabriel    Harvey's    Tour    Letters    and    Certain 

1  PL  Percevall  (Peth.),  31. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     233 

Sonnets/  in  an  epitaph  on  Eobert  Greene,  we  have  prac- 
tically the  same  couplet — 

Here  Bedlamis  :  and  heere  a  Poet  garish 
Gaily  bedecked  like  forehorse  of  the  parish. 

In  his  tract  Percevall  calls  himself  '  an  vpstantiall  yeo- 
man.' 1 

M.  Some  laide  open  in  his  Goulers. — The  production  of  this  pamphlet, 
though  not  in  itself  a  part  of  the  Marprelate  controversy,  is  so  closely 
involved  in  the  history  of  Penry  and  Throkmorton,  and  the  work  of 
Waldegrave's  press,  that  some  notice  must  be  taken  of  it.  Dr.  Some, 
it  will  be  remembered,  published  in  May  1588  one  of  his  'Godly 
Treatises,'  its  theme  being  the  ignorant  ministry,  the  sacraments,  etc. 
Some  was  a  highly  objectionable  person  to  the  thorough -going  refor- 
mers, and  in  scant  favour  with  Whitgift  and  his  party.  But  his 
opposition  to  Popery,  and  his  avoidance  of  the  advanced  views  of  the 
reforming  party,  suited  the  atmosphere  of  the  University.  He  was 
elected  to  the  mastership  of  Peterhouse,  and  served  as  vice-chancellor 
on  several  occasions.  He  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
which  implied  at  least  that  he  did  not  belong  to  the  episcopal  junta. 
He  openly  opposed  Whitgift  in  the  persecution  of  Barrett  and  was 
threatened  with  some  trouble  because  of  what  the  Archbishop  con- 
temptuously called  '  Some's  fooleries.'  Having  preached  at  Great  St. 
Mary's  at  Cambridge,  on  the  sins  of  pluralities  and  non-residence,  in 
1570,  he  was  naturally  twitted  by  Martin  for  his  own  'plurality'  in 
holding  the  living  of  Girton,  and  his  natural  non-residence  when 
attending  to  his  other  duties  at  Cambridge.  He  disavowed  any 
sympathy  with  an  ignorant  and  unworthy  ministry.  So  he  stood 
between  two  fires.  His  speech  was  far  too  hesitating  and  temporising 
to  gain  the  respect  of  the  one  party  ;  its  frankness  was  as  a  scourge  on 
the  backs  of  the  other. 

Penry,  in  the  second  edition  of  his  Exhortation,  mentions  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Godly  Treatise.  In  a  later  edition  he  offers  a  tentative 
reply  to  its  positions  in  regard  to  the  ministry  arid  the  sacraments,  but 
promised  a  larger  reply  later  on.  This  came  in  Penry's  Defence  of  that 
which  hath  bin  written,  printed  on  the  Martinist  press  at  East  Molesey 
by  Waldegrave.  Some  issued  a  second  edition  of  his  Godly  Treatise 
on  Sept.  19,  1588,  replying  at  some  length  to  both  tracts  of 
Penry.2  To  this  once  more  Penry  addressed  himself,  and  had  written 

1  PL  Percevall  (Peth.),  25. 

2  For  a  note  on  these  dates,  see  my  brief  communication  to  the  Trans,  of 
the  Cong.  Hist.  Soc.,  vol.  iii.  p.  114.      The  second  edition  of  Some's  work 
has  a  separate  title-page  ;  but  the  pagination  is  continuous,  2  -  36  +  xvi  + 
53-200. 


234  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

a  Reply,  the  manuscript  of  which  was  seized  when  the  pursuivants 
first  raided  Henry  Godley's  house  on  the  29th  of  the  following 
January.  It  was  this  latter  circumstance  which  induced  our  anony- 
mous author  to  publish  the  work  of  an  alleged  anonymous  friend 
replying  to  Dr.  Some.  Its  title  runs,  M.  Some  laid  open  in  his  coulers : 
Wherein  the  indifferent  reader  may  easily  see,  hovve  wretchedly  and  loosely 
he  hath  handeled  the  cause  against  M.  Penri.  Done  by  an  Oxford  man  to 
his  friend  in  Cambridge.1  On  the  last  page  are  the  initials,  I.  G.  The 
epistle  *  To  the  Reader  '  begins — 

Hauing  this  lying  by  me,  without  any  purpose  to  publish  it  as  yet,  I 
was  aduertized  of  the  taking  away  of  M.  PENRIES  book  by  the  Pursuivant. 
Whereupon  I  resolued  (though  it  should  be  some  offence  to  my  friende)  not 
to  closet  it  vp  any  longer,  lest  th'  aduersary  shoulde  too  much  triumph 
and  insult.  Euen  as  it  came  into  my  hands,  so  haue  I  giuen  it  his  pasport 
without  any  addition  or  alteration  of  mine  :  only  the  Title  I  confesse  is 
mine  owne,  the  rest  is  my  Oxford  friends,  who  if  he  be  thought,  in  his 
pleasant  veine,  anye  thing  too  snappish,  the  reader  is  to  vvey  with  what 
kind  of  aduersary  he  deales  :  namely  with  the  snappishest  gentleman,  and 
most  bitter  mouther  that  euer  put  pen  to  paper. 

It  is  too  far  from  our  purpose  to  give  any  analysis  of  the  contents 
of  this  tract ;  but  the  work  is  of  interest  to  us  because  of  our  conclu- 
sion as  to  its  authorship.  The  likeness  between  it  and  Martin's 
EPISTLE,  EPITOME,  and  HAY  ANY  WORKE  is  too  great  to  be  over- 
looked. The  special  gaiety  and  the  jaunty  familiarity  with  which 
Martin  deals  with  the  bishops  is,  of  course,  avoided  ;  but  the  easy 
idiomatic  raciness  of  style  is  the  same.  Its  writer  has  travelled 
along  the  path  of  religious  liberty  and  has  reached  the  same  stage  as 
Martin  Marprelate.  There  is  to  be  liberty  to  speak  and  to  discuss 
religious  questions  (which  Some  denies  to  the  reformers),  and  a  measure 
of  liberty  of  choice  should  be  given  to  ministers  in  regard  to  the 
external  methods  of  worship ;  but  the  Marprelate  Tracts  and  our 
present  pamphlet  agree  with  Some,  that  'a  godly  prince  may  and 
ought  to  compell  his  subjects  (if  any  refuse)  to  th'  externall  service  of 
God.'  2  And  we  shall  also  presently  see,  that  tried  by  certain  word- 
tests,  this  tract  and  some  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts  are  related  to  A 
Defence  of  Job  Throkmorton  against  Matt.  Sutdiffe. 

The  final  initials  I.  G.  may  mean  anything  or  nothing.  They 
may  be  inserted  in  order  to  puzzle  the  enemy.  In  ancient  volumes 
initials  sometimes  stood  for  a  devoted  expression  on  the  part  of  the 
thankful  writer  as  he  completed  his  task.  For  instance,  I.  M.  stood 
for  *  Jhesu  Maria.'  In  semi-anonymous  works  the  authors'  initials 
were  sometimes  reversed,  or  the  final  instead  of  the  initial  letters  of 
their  names  were  employed.  The  letters  I.  G.  suggested  to  Dr.  Dexter 

1  It  is  a  small  12mo  running  to  124  pp.  in  Roman  type  ;  without  place, 
date,  or  name  of  author  or  printer,  apart  from  the  terminal  initials,  I.  G. 

2  M.  Some  in  his  coulers,  17. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     235 

the  name  of  John  Greenwood  ;  but  the  style  and  the  circumstances 
in  which  the  tract  was  produced  point  most  strongly  to  Job  Throk- 
morton. as  the  Oxford  man.  Matt.  Sutcliffe  in  his  Answere  to  Job 
Throkmorton  writes,  '  The  book  called  Some  in  his  contours  was  likewise 
made  by  J.  Throkmorton.  That  is  proved  first,  by  the  deposition  of 
Waldegrave  that  vpon  his  oath  testified  so  much,  and  at  Rochelle 
where  he  printed  it,  spake  it  openly.' l  But  Sutclifl'e  is  not  beyond 
making  assertions  for  which  he  possesses  no  evidence,  and  which  we 
know  from  other  sources  to  be  erroneous.  The  reference  here  to 
Waldegrave's  deposition  on  oath  would  have  weight  with  us  if  we 
were  sure  that  he  ever  made  a  deposition  on  oath  in  regard  to  these 
matter?.  The  evidence  we  possess  goes  to  show  that  he  was  never 
in  custody  after  joining  the  Marprelate  press  in  the  midsummer  of 
1588  ;  and  in  that  case  it  is  certain  he  would  make  no  deposition  on 
oath,  or  otherwise,  in  order  to  supply  his  persecutors  with  evidence. 
Nor  would  he  speak  the  fact  of  Throkmorton's  authorship  openly,  if 
the  safety  of  Throkinorton  demanded  that  he  should  keep  silence. 
Sutcliffe  makes  a  second  point,  that  Throkmorton  did  not  *  deny  this 
treatise  to  be  his,  being  charged  with  it.' 

We  gather  from  the  reference  to  it  in  Leonard  Wright's  Friendly 
Admonition,  entered  at  the  Stationers'  on  Jan.  19th,  that  Some  in  his 
coulers  must  have  been  printed  in  the  late  autumn  of  1589.  The 
story  of  Waldegrave's  movements  during  this  period  has  been 
constructed  in  the  light  of  this  evidence. 

5.  The  Controversy  during  1590. — Christmas  past,  the 
controversy  began  to  subside.  With  the  censorship  working 
at  panic  pressure,  and  the  friends  of  Martin,  workers,  distri- 
buters, printers,  agents,  and  helpers,  as  well  as  generous  and 
courageous  hosts,  all  in  prison ;  spared  the  gallows  by  a 
prejudice  against  slaying  good  Protestants  and  loyal  sub- 
jects ;  yet  inevitably  undone  by  Whitgift's  mercy ;  unless 
the  rack  could  promise  to  extort  some  secret  out  of  their 
hearts,  left  to  rot,  tried  or  untried,  in  prison ;  else  ostenta- 
tiously reprieved  and  cynically  ruined  by  an  atrocious  fine ; 
even  though  Martin  were  at  this  time  at  large,  who  was 
there  left  to  print  and  circulate  his  wit  and  satire  1  Under 
such  circumstances  to  speak  of  Tom  Nash  as  having  silenced 
Martin  is  curiously  to  misapprehend  the  situation.  But 
even  the  suborned  pens  of  Nash  and  Lily,  and  the  zeal  of 
Bancroft,  cannot  keep  long  going  a  controversy,  when  the 
attacked  have  no  right  to  reply. 

1  Op.  tit.  71  (5). 


236  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

(a)  Early  in  January,  the  registration  is  dated  the  19th 
day,  Leonard  Wright  published  A  Friendly  Admonition  to 
Marline  Marprelate  and  his  Mates.     London.     Printed  by 
John  Wolfe,  1590.     It  consists  of  a  quarto  sheet,  six  pages 
of  print    in    B.L.     He    is    sorry    for    Martin,  exposed    to 
the  world's  ridicule  upon  an  open  stage,  '  to  bee  scorned, 
hated,    and   detested  for  ever.' *     He   reproaches   him   for 
encouraging  '  the  commons  to  cast  off  the  yoke  of  obedience, 
and    resist   her    Maiesties   lawes    establyshed,   against  her 
crowne    and    dignitie.'     Wright's    marginal    references   are 
worth  noting.      '  Looke  Martins  [Minerall]  conclusios.     And 
their  booke  intituled  D.   Some  laid   open   in   his   colours.' 
He  is  concerned  at  the  bad   treatment  of  'those  ancient 
grave  Fathers,  godly  learned  pastors,  and  chief  pillars  of 
our  Church,  reuerenced  for  their  special  giftes,  placed  in 
authoritie  for  theyr  rare  vertues  and  honoured  of  all  good 
men  for  their  calling.'  2     The  margin  here  says,  '  If  Martine 
bee  a  Gentleman,  it  is  only  by  profession,  not  by  condition ' ; 
a  somewhat  cryptic  sentence,  especially  as  Martin's  identity 
was  unknown.     Wright  contends   that  under  the  existing 
order  the  Gospel  is  fully  proclaimed ;  the  sacraments  are 
duly  administered ;  the  external  rites  are  not  repugnant  to 
the  Sacred  Word.     Even  Cartwright   has   to  acknowledge 
that  the  Churches  of  Europe  give  to  the  Church  of  England 
'  the  right  hand  of  society.' 3     A  considerable  part  of  the 
tract  is  seriously  concerned  with  the  scriptural  aspects  of  the 
controversy,  accompanied  by  copious  textual  references  in 
the  margin.      The  author  is   called  by  Martin,  Sir  Leonard 
Wright,  so  that  he  was  no  doubt  a  clergyman.     From  the 
reference  to  him  in  the  tracts,  he  must  have  taken  some  part 
in  the  Marprelate  Controversy,  prior  to  the  publication  of 
his  Friendly  Admonition* 

(b)  To  the  opening  months  of  the  year  we  must  assign 
the  pamphlet  An  Almond  for  a  Parrat.     Fetheram  in  the 
Introduction  to  his  reprint  suggests  that  it  was  published 

*  Page  1.  2  Page  2.  3  Pages  2,  3. 

4  He  is  mentioned  in  the  tracts  several  times.     See  THESES,  D  3  vers. ; 
JUST  CENSURE,  C  2  vers. ;  PROTEST ATYON,  30,  31. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     237 

late  in  1589,  but  the  arguments  he  adduces  only  show  that 
it  could  not  have  appeared  earlier  than  the  date  he  assigns. 
The  writer  speaks  of  Pappe  with  a  Hatchet  having  been 
published  '  not  many  moneths  since.'  The  references  in  that 
tract  to  the  suppression  of  the  Antimartinist  plays,  show 
that  it  must  be  dated  after  November  6th.  Without  sug- 
gesting a  definite  date  for  Pappe,  it  is  clear  that  we  cannot 
assign  to  An  Almond  an  earlier  date  than  the  end  of 
February,  or  the  early  part  of  March  1590.  The  latest 
reference  it  contains  apparently  is  to  M.  Some  in  his  coulers. 
The  full  title  of  our  pamphlet  is  :  An  Almond  for  a  Parrat? 
or  Cutbert  Curry -knaues  Almes.  Fit  for  the  knaue  Martin, 
and  the  rest  of  those  impudent  Beggers,  that  can  not  be  content 
to  stay  their  stomakes  with  a  Benefice,  but  they  will  needes 
breake  their  fastes  with  our  Bishops.  Rimarum  sumplenus. 
Therefore  beware  (gentle  Header)  you  catch  not  the  hicket 
[hiccough]  with  laughing.  Imprinted  at  a  Place,  not  farre 
from  a  Place,  by  the  Assignes  of  Signior  Some-body,  and  are 
to  be  sold  at  his  shoppe  in  TronMe-knaue  Street,  at  the  signe 
of  the  Standish.  It  is  a  small  quarto  of  twenty-eight  pages 
in  all,  printed  in  B.L.  The  '  epistle  '  has  a  dedication  '  To 
that  most  Comicall  and  conceited  Caualeire  Monsieur  du 
Kempe,  lestmonger  and  Vice-gerent  generall  to  the  Ghost 
of  Dicke  Tarleton.'  Kemp  is  mentioned  in  THESES  in  the 
list  of  undesirable  helpers,  who  would  eventually  work  the 
ruin  of  Whitgift.  He  was  evidently  a  chief  actor  in  the 
farcical  sketches  in  which  Martin  was  exposed  to  contempt. 
To  his  contemporaries  he  was  chiefly  notorious  for  having 
danced  and  sung  his  way  on  a  rolling  barrel  from  London 
to  Norwich.  It  has  been  generally  held  that  the  writer  of 
this  pamphlet  was  Nash.  The  reference  it  contains  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  cause  of  Martin  '  was  earst  so  bravely 
encountered  by  Pasquin  and  Marphoreus,2  and  not  many 
moneths  since  most  wittily  scofte  at  by  the  extemporall 
endeuour  of  the  pleasant  author  of  Pap  with  a  hatchet' 
indicates  that  the  writer  did  not  intend  either  Lily  or  Nash 

1  That  is,  anything  to  keep  the  noisy  bird  quiet. 
2  It  is  Marforius  in  Pasquills  Returne. 


238  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

to  be  credited  with  its  authorship.  Though  it  has  all  the 
faults  of  the  literary  attack  on  Martin  organised  on  behalf 
of  the  prelates,  and  has  little  or  nothing  to  say  on  the  sub- 
stance of  the  controversy,  yet  no  one  can  read  it  carefully 
without  perceiving  that  it  is  superior  as  a  writing  to  Pappe 
with  an  Hatchet.  John  Petheram  found  '  the  internal 
evidence  in  favour  of  Nash  as  the  author  very  strong.' 
Judging  solely  by  its  literary  style  we  might  agree  in  this 
judgment.  But  there  are  some  verbal  indications  that  the 
author,  who  on  the  title-page,  indeed,  says,  '  Eimarum  sum- 
plenus,'  is  the  same  that  wrote  Rythmes  against  Martin 
Marre-Prelate  (A  Whip  for  an  Ape). 

An  Almond  for  a  Parrot  is  better  furnished  than  Pappe 
with  the  names  of  the  London  '  seekers  after  Reformation ' 
who  were  subject  of  common  gossip ;  those  concerned  in  the 
printing  of  the  Martinist  tracts,  as  well  as  the  chief 
ministerial  representatives  of  Puritanism  and  Separatism 
throughout  the  country.  He  can  talk  familiarly  of  Cliffe — 
Cuthbert  Cliffe  he  calls  him — the  cobbler  of  Battle  Bridge, 
Margaret  Lawson  of  St.  Paul's  Gate  (the  '  shrew '  Martin 
calls  her),  Newman,  '  the  souter  '  [  =  cobbler]  ;  he  must  have 
seen  the  evidence  of  Sinims  and  Thomlyn  after  the  seizure 
at  Manchester,  and  the  stratagem  of  pretending  to  print 
'  Accidences  ' ;  he  rattles  away  familiarly  about  Paget  (though 
he,  too,  stumbles  over  the  ambiguous  word  lame),  '  Cooper  of 
Pauls  Chain,'  Cartwright,  Travers,  Wigginton  of  Sedburgh, 
Udall,  and  others.  Especially  he  deals  at  length  with 
Penry,  and  his  particulars  about  that  remarkable  young 
man  would  be  of  distinct  value,  if  we  knew  accurately  how 
to  discriminate  between  what  is  true  and  what  is  the  pro- 
duct of  the  writer's  invention.  Much  that  is  his  invention 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  classifying.  The  illegitimate  birth 
and  the  abandoned  babe  in  the  church  porch,  and  many 
things  else,  are  no  doubt  the  product  of  the  writer's  unprin- 
cipled imagination.  But  there  may  be  a  foundation  of 
truth  in  the  University  gossip  that  Penry  on  reaching  Cam- 
bridge was  '  as  arrant  a  Papist  as  ever  came  out  Wales ' ; 
that  in  those  early  days  he  was  an  innovator,  that  is,  had 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     239 

an  original  mind ;  that  he  be-rimed  '  Doctour  Perne  for  his 
new  statutes ' ;  that  by  conversing  with  some  Frenchmen, 
'  of  a  Papist  hee  became  a  Brownist.'  We  are  quite  sure  we 
are  led  by  unbridled  invention,  however,  when  we  go  on  to 
read  '  how  afterwards  from  a  Brownist  hee  fell  to  be  an 
Anabaptist '  and  '  a  malo  in  peius  from  an  Anabaptist  to  be 
that  infamous  Martin'  He  ascribes  to  him  the  authorship 
of  THE  PROTESTATYON,  Udall's  Demonstration,  the  Supplica- 
tion, TIi  Appellation,  THESES,  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  and  M.  Some 
in  his  Coulers ;  a  list  which  indicates  the  mixture  of  truth 
and  falsehood  which  marks  the  whole  tract.1 

(c)  The  beginning  of  July  Nash  again  appears  with  a 
strong  Anti-Martinist  pamphlet  bearing  the  title,  The  First 
Parte  of  Pasquils  Apologie  Wherein  he  renders  a  reason  to 
his  friendes  of  his  long  silence :  and  gallops  the  fidde,  with  the 
Treatise  of  ^Reformation  lately  written  ly  a  fugitive,  John 
Penri.  Printed  where  I  was  and  where  I  will  be  readie  ly 
the  helpe  of  God  and  my  Muse  to  send  you  the  May-game  of 
Martinisme  for  an  intermedium  betweene  the  first  and  seconde 
part  of  the  Apologie.  Anno  Dom.  1590.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  this  work  of  Nash's  has  only  a  very  slight  connection 
with  the  Marprelate  writings,  and  its  contents  need  not, 
therefore,  detain  us.  But  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  he 
has  to  defend  himself  at  some  length  for  his  depreciatory 
reference  to  Savonarola  in  his  previous  pamphlet.2  But  his 
instructions  no  doubt  were  to  attack,  in  his  own  way, 
Penry's  fresh  protest  against  charging  the  reformers  with 
being  enemies  to  the  State.  Incidentally  he  indicates  the 
official  dislike  to  Plaine  Percevall  and  his  efforts  at  peace- 
making.3 His  own  references  to  the  Episcopate  are  marked 
by  excessive  humbleness.  'My  labours  in  this  peece  of 
seruice  will  be  the  lesse,  because  the  byshop  of  my  soule, 
iny  L.  Archb.  of  Cant.,  strook  off  the  head  of  the 
serpent/ 4  'What  a  reuerend  regard  ought  euerie  one  of 
vs  to  haue  of  the  Bishops  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  are  and 

1  For  reference  to  Penry  see  pp.  39-45  (ed.  Petheram).     I  have  not  ob- 
served any  reference  to  this  pamphlet  in  the  later  contemporary  contributions 
to  this  controversy. 

2  Sig.  A  4  vers.  3  Sig.  B  1.  4  Sig.  B  3  vers. 


240  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

haue  beene  the  very  hands  whereby  God  hath  deliuered  his 
truth  vn to  us.' l 

(d)  It  is  evident  that  the  coarse  indecency  of  some 
of  the  earlier  pamphlets,  written  at  Bancroft's  instigation, 
was  shocking  the  better  class  among  those  who  supported 
the  established  order.  Burleigh,  who  suppressed  the  plays, 
can  hardly  have  looked  with  complacency  on  the  loose 
pages  of  Mar-Martine,  and  Pappe,  and  An  Almond.  In  the 
last  pamphlet  Nash  has  greatly  mended  his  manners. 
Following  it  there  appeared  a  sermon  by  Eichard  Harvey, 
A  TJuologicall  Discourse  of  the  Lamb  of  God  .  .  .  with  a 
detection  of  old  and  new  Barbarisme,  now  called  Martinisme. 
Nash  writing  two  years  later,  and  embittered  by  his  long 
quarrel  with  the  Harvey  brothers,  refers  to  Eichard  Harvey 
as  having  taken  upon  himself  '  in  his  blundring  Persiual  to 
play  the  lacke  of  both  sides  twixt  Martin  and  vs/  and 
'  presently  after  dribbled  forth  another  fooles  bolt,  a  booke 
I  should  say,  which  he  christened  The  Lamle  of  God.' 2 
Without  contributing  anything  material,  either  to  the  cause 
of  peace  or  enlightenment,  Harvey's  sermon  scarcely  de- 
serves Nash's  contemptuous  description.  The  theological 
discourse  proper  ends  at  p.  73.  Then  begins  the  'detection 
of  the  old  and  new  Barbarisme  now  called  Martinisme.' 
'  Bot  there  remayneth  yet  a  monstrous  and  a  craftie  anti- 
christian  practisser,  not  already  touched  to  the  quick,  one 
and  his  mate  compounded  of  many  contraries,  to  breede  the 
more  confusion  in  simple  vulgar  wits,  who  like  Pasauantius 
is  content  to  be  ridiculous  himself,  so  that  his  enuie  in  any 
sort  make  poore  Lysetus  contemptible/ 3  '  This  is  the 
groundworke  and  postulate  of  Cartwrightisme  and  Martin- 
isme .  .  .  they  teach  other  men  their  duties,  but  thinke  not 
on  their  own  duties,  they  proue,  if  we  must  doe  as  God  bid- 
deth  vs,  they  will  not  do  as  God  biddeth  them.' 4  '  0 
merciful  God,  seeing  it  is  thy  soueraigne  maiesties  most 
gracious  and  apparent  worde,  not  to  touch  thine  annoynted, 
or  doe  thy  Prophets  any  harme,  Psal.  105,  v.  15,  either 

1  Sig.  C  1  vers.  2  Strange  News,  Sig.  2,  quoted  by  Petheram. 

3  Op.  tit.,  119.  4  Ibid.  121. 


EPISCOPAL  ANTI-MARTINIST  POLICY     241 

execute  thy  will,  and  poure  out  thy  vengeance  vpon  such 
wicked  ones,  as  seeke  both  to  touch  thine  annoynted  and 
hurt  thy  Prophets,  or  els  shorten  the  day  of  thy  second 
comming.' l  '  If  I  should  continua  similitudine  resemble 
[this  race  of  Eeformers]  to  the  Vipers  broode,  that  kill  their 
owne  damrne  which  bred  and  brought  them  up  to  life,  I  am 
sure  you  that  know  the  vse  of  this  kind  of  simile,  and  the 
manners  of  this  people  against  their  mother  the  Church 
that  first  bred  them,  will  say  I  speake  trueth.' 2  These 
quotations  will  indicate  the  attitude  of  the  writer  to  the 
Martinists. 

1  Strange  News,  Sig.  2,  quoted  by  Petheram,  140,  141. 
z  Ib.  151,  152. 


CHAPTER  V 

ANCILLARY  LITERATURE,   MARTINIST  AND 
ANTI-MARTINIST 

1.  THE  only  additional  publication  following  heartily  the 
lines  laid  down  by  Martin  Marprelate  which  has  come 
down  to  us  is  A  Dialogue  Wherein  is  laide  open  the 
tyrannicall  dealing  of  L.  Bishopps  against  Gods  children : 
with  certaine  points  of  doctrine,  wherein  they  approoue 
themselues  (according  to  D.  Bridges  his  judgement}  to  be 
truely  the  Bishops  of  the  Diuell.  This  sprightly  piece  is 
commonly  assigned  to  Waldegrave's  press,  and  were  it 
not  that  Waldegrave  had  resolved  not  to  meddle  further 
with  Martinism,  we  might  have  no  difficulty  in  accepting 
the  common  view.  For  the  Dialogue  is  quite  sufficiently 
Martinist  to  come  within  Waldegrave's  self -prohibition. 
But  it  is  not  from  Martin's  pen.  The  touchstone  whereby 
we  try  the  pseudo-Martinist  pamphlets  is  not  their  wit; 
although  the  real  Martin  found  no  equal  in  his  own  con- 
troversy. The  real  test  is  the  serious  religious  purpose, 
definitely  expressed  and  unmistakable,  which  characterises 
all  the  genuine  productions.  And  here  the  Dialogue  comes 
short.  It  takes  up  the  points  made  popular  by  Martin, 
including  the  dialectical  sword-play  mentioned  in  the  title- 
page,  whereby  poor  old  Bridges  is  made  to  characterise  the 
Bishops  as  '  Bishops  of  the  diuell.'  It  gives  us  abund- 
ance of  characteristic  stories  of  the  prelates,  and  is  well 
acquainted  with  the  course  of  the  controversy.  Its  refer- 
ences to  the  Marprelate  writings  are,  however,  not  what 
the  writer  of  them  would  himself  make.  The  dialogue  is 

242 


ANCILLARY  LITERATURE  243 

well  managed,  and  some  of  the  anecdotes  new  and  interest- 
ing ;  as  for  instance,  that  which  tells  us  how  the  students  at 
Cambridge  if  they  '  haue  a  coate  or  cloake  that  is  turned 
they  say  [it]  is  Pearnd!  l 

So  far  as  the  typographical  evidence  can  determine  the 
question  of  its  origin,  the  Dialogue  came  from  Waldegrave's 
press.  It  is  a  small  12mo,  sig.  A-D  in  fours,  without 
date,  place,  or  printer's  name.  The  type  appears  to  be 
that  used  in  M.  Some  in  Ms  coulers,  and  the  absence  of  his 
name  from  the  title-page  would  indicate  that  it  was  printed 
by  Waldegrave  before  he  became  established  in  Scotland. 
The  reference  to  him  in  the  Dialogue  is  interesting,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  authoritative.  It  also  supplies  us  with  one 
indication  of  its  date.  It  must  have  been  written  later  than 
April  1589.2  The  style  of  Martin's  attack,  making  the 
Episcopal  apologists  by  logical  inference  decry  one  another, 
is  fairly  imitated.  For  example,  Martin  in  his  EPISTLE  3 
takes  Whitgift  to  task  for  authorising  the  Apocrypha  to  be 
included  in  the  edition  of  the  Bible  issued  under  his  hand. 
In  the  Admonition  to  the  People  we  have  this  reply : 

All  learned  men  haue  from  the  beginning  given  to  the 
Apocrypha  authoritie,  next  to  the  Canonicall  Scriptures.  And 
therefore  such  giddie  heads,  as  seeke  to  deface  them  [by 
excluding  the  Apocrypha]  are  to  be  bridled.4 

These  words  are  really  part  of  Whitgift's  own  defence, 
contributed  to  the  Admonition,  though  in  the  Dialogue  they 
are  ascribed  to  Bishop  Cooper  of  Winchester.  But  Whitgift 
had  authorised  the  publication  of  the  attack  on  Bellarmine 
by  Whittaker,  in  which  the  latter  shows  the  uncanonical 
character  of  the  Apocrypha.  This  is  how  the  situation  thus 
created  is  treated  in  the  Dialogue : 

Puritane:  'Why  sir,  in  the  49.  page  of  the  same  book,  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester  saith  the  Bishop  of  Canterbury  is  a  giddy 

1  Sig.  D  2  vers.  2  Sig.  B  4. 

3  M.  37,  f.  103  ;  see  also  MINERALLS,  §  26,  f.  12. 

*  Pago  49  [Arber's  ed.  p.  39]. 


244  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

head  and  to  be  brideled,  because  he  authorised  Doctor  Whittaker 
his  readinges  against  Bellarmina  wherein  the  Apocripha  is  defaced.' 

Similarly  Whitgift  supports  the  validity  of  the  baptism 
of  infants  by  women,  which  Robert  Some,  writing  against 
Penry,  repudiates.  So  '  Puritane  '  continues  : 

'  And  M.  Doctor  Some  one  of  their  affinitie  no  we,  and  a  non- 
resident, he  calls  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  An  Absurd 
Heretike  because  he  holds  baptisme  administered  by  weomen, 
to  be  the  seale  of  God's  couenante :  page  3.  of  his  booke  against 
Master  Penri,  and  many  like  things  I  could  cite  to  you  of  their 
dissenting  on[e]  from  another.1 

But  these  dialectical  points  are  reproductions  of  Martin's 
adroit  logic-play,  and  the  Dialogue  is,  in  this  respect,  akin 
to  the  broadside  known  as  the  MINERALLS. 

2.  In  the  year  1589  or  in  1590 — it  is  difficult  now  to 
determine  which — a  small  quarto  tract  of  83  pp.  was 
published  in  the  interests  of  the  reformers,  bearing  the 
title,  A  Petition  directed  to  her  most  Excellent  Maiestie, 
wherein  is  delivered  (1)  A  meane  howe  to  compound  the 
ciuill  dissension  in  the  Church  of  England.  (2)  A  proof e 
that  they  who  write  for  Reformation  doe  not  offend  against  the 
stat.  of  23.  Eliz.  c,  and  therefore  till  matters  be  compounded, 
deserue  more  favour.  Herevnto  is  annexed:  Some  opinions 
of  such  a  sue  for  Reformation :  By  which  it  may  appeare 
how  vniustlie  they  are  slaundered  by  the  Bishops,  &c.  pag.  53. 
Togither  with  the  Authours  Epistle  to  the  Reader,  pag.  58. 
Also :  Certayne  Articles  wherein  is  discouered  the  negligence 
of  the  Bishops,  their  Officials,  Fauorers,  and  Followers,  in 
performance  of  sundrie  Ecclesiasticall  Statutes,  Lawes  and 
Ordinancies,  Royall  and  Episcopall,  published  for  the  gouern- 
ment  of  the  Church  of  Englande,  pag.  60.  Lastlie : 
Certayue  Questions  on  Interrogatories  drawen  by  a  fauorer 
of  Reformation,  wherein  he  desireth  to  be  resolued  by  the 
Prelates,  pag.  74.  It  affords  no  hint  of  its  origin,  being 
entirely  anonymous.  But  it  would  be  most  interesting  to 
know  its  author,  for  it  is  in  our  judgment  the  ablest 

1  Sig.  C  2. 


ANCILLARY   LITERATURE  245 

contribution  to  the  controversy  between  the  two  sections  of 
Protestants,  conformist  and  reforming,  which  so  far  had 
appeared.  It  has  excellencies  not  possessed  by  the  keen 
and  eloquent  contributions  of  Cartwright,  much  as  they 
outshone  the  dogged  attack  of  Whitgift.  It  has  none  of 
the  reckless  wit  of  Martin,  but  as  a  plea  is  more  propor- 
tioned and  of  wider  outlook.  Its  erudition,  legal  and 
ecclesiastical,  is  immense ;  its  forensic  acuteness  unfailing. 
And  with  all  its  strength  it  is  perfectly  urbane ;  its 
admirable  temper,  amidst  the  dust  and  heat  and  irritability 
of  the  ecclesiastical  warfare  of  the  time,  is  not  the  least  of 
its  distinctions.  Its  author  was  a  layman,  and  almost 
certainly  an  eminent  lawyer,  but  a  man  especially  well-read 
in  the  ecclesiastical  literature  called  into  being  by  the 
European  reformation.  A  wisely  and  competently  edited 
edition  of  this  work  would  be  a  material  contribution  to 
the  politico-ecclesiastical  controversy  of  our  own  day. 

One  or  two  of  its  notable  features  may  be  mentioned. 
The  writer,  despite  the  fair  weather  assurances  of  the 
Bishops,  thinks  the  holding  of  a  conference  to  consider 
questions  of  church  reform  would  be  justified.  He  shows 
that  the  laws  themselves  anticipate  revision.  A  commission 
of  inquiry  was  appointed  in  the  days  of  Henry,  and  con- 
tinued in  the  time  of  Edward,  whose  labours  were  collected 
in  the  well-known  book,  Reformatio  Legum.  But  the  laws 
scheduled  remain  in  their  corruption.  The  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  anticipates  revision,  since  its  Commination  is  only  to 
continue  till  '  an  order  of  Discipline  practised  in  the  primi- 
tive Church  be  restored/  The  law  in  the  ordination  service 
assumes  that  all  ministers  are  preachers ;  but  the  Bishops, 
for  one  that  can  preach,  make  twenty  that  can  not.  The 
law  assumes  that  the  '  ornaments '  of  Edward's  time  should 
only  continue  till  order  were  taken  by  the  Queen  and 
ecclesiastical  commissioners.  The  inoperative  canons,  the 
state  of  the  ministry  as  confessed  by  the  Bishops,  their 
admissions  in  controversy,  all  point  to  the  same  conclusion. 
Many  who  now  support  the  state  of  the  bishops  spoke 
against  it  '  when  they  were  nearest  to  God,  that  is  in  miserie 


246  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

and  anguish  of  soule.'  Aylmer's  Harlorowe  is  quoted  at 
length ;  and  there  are  pertinent  quotations  from  Bullingham 
and  Bridges.  The  civil  lordship  of  the  Bishops  is  against 
the  judgment  of  authorities,  Continental  and  English;  among 
the  latter  are  Bishop  Jewel,  Dean  Howell,  and  Dr.  Bilson. 
Very  apt  are  the  quotations  of  the  Bishops  themselves 
against  the  Papists. 

With  the  ease  of  a  practised  advocate,  he  tears  to  shreds 
the  charges  of  '  treasoa  and  felonie '  brought  against  the 
reformers  because,  in  speaking  against  the  Bishops,  they  in 
reality  spoke  against  the  Queen.  His  elucidation  of  the 
statute  is  only  too  convincing.  The  Bishops  are  not  a 
'  body  politic/  and  parliamentary  precedent  shows  that  laws 
can  be  enacted  without  their  presence  or  co-operation. 

The  right  to  excommunicate  a  prince  is  treated  with 
equal  learning  and  discretion.  Moreover  a  full  list  of 
instances  are  adduced  where  writers  have  written,  some 
against  the  laws  of  the  realm,  and  some  also  against  the 
Church  and  its  government,  who  were  never  esteemed 
defamers  of  their  princes.  Among  the  latter  are  Wiclif, 
Swinderby,  '  Piers  Plowman/  Chaucer  (the  verses  quoted  are 
from  the  pseudo  -  Chaucerian  Plowman's  Tale),  Tindall, 
Hooper,  Barnes,  '  Father '  Latimer,  and  others. 

The  puerile  interpretation  of  Martin's  figurative  threat 
of  fists  about  Dean  Bridges'  ears — it  was,  of  course,  a  threat 
that  other  writers  would  attack  the  Dean — is  effectively 
dealt  with.  The  writer  defends  the  '  seekers  after  reforma- 
tion '  generally ;  among  them  '  Martin/  Cartwright,  Udall, 
and  others,  though  they  differ  in  many  points.  Especially 
does  he  protest  against  the  false  issues  raised  by  the 
prelates.  He  warmly  takes  Bancroft  to  task  for  his 
unscrupulous  advocacy  and  his  servility  towards  the  Queen. 
Bancroft  assigns  to  the  Queen  all  the  authority  and  pre- 
eminence that  formerly  appertained  to  the  Pope.  If,  he 
says,  a  man  can  defame  by  foolish  flatteries,  then  Bancroft 
is  the  most  notorious  defamer  of  the  Queen. 

The  nearest  approach  to  warmth  of  feeling  is  perhaps 
where  the  writer  refers  to  the  brutality  with  which 


ANCILLARY  LITERATURE  247 

Whitgift  and  Bancroft  persecute  John  Udall.  He  says 
that  the  '  Seekers  after  Reformation ' 

greatly  complaine  that  the  Bpshops]  should  be  so  vnnaturall  as 
to  seeke  the  life  of  a  right  godly  and  faithfull  Preacher  of  the 
Gospell,  I  meane  Maister  Udall,  to  whom  life  was  offred  if  hee 
would  but  take  his  o[a]th  that  he  did  not  make  a  booke, 
whereof  he  was  supposed  to  bee  authour.  A  rare  example, 
that  a  man  should  bee  knowen  standing  at  a  barre,  shackled  in 
bolts  (but  qucere  quo  iure)  and  coupled  with  a  murtherer ;  whose 
conscience  was  thought  so  faithfull  and  sound  by  the  Judge  him 
selfe,  that  he  would  not  swear  falslie  to  gaine  his  life  (p.  25). 

Many  interesting  and  important  points  in  constitutional 
law  expounded  by  this  learned  writer  cannot  be  even  briefly 
touched  upon  here.  Nor  can  we  more  than  indicate  the 
variety  and  minuteness  of  his  references  to  authorities, 
ecclesiastical,  political,  legal,  and  literary. 

3.  It  was  the  close  of  the  year  1592  before  an  answer 
appeared  to  the  Petition.  It  was  written  by  Matthew 
Sutcliffe,  who  gave  it  the  title,  An  Answere  to  a  Certaine 
Libel  supplicatorie,  or  rather  Diffamatory,  and  also  to  certaine 
Calumnious  Articles  and  Interrogatories,  both  printed  and 
scattered  in  secret  corners,  to  the  slaunder  of  the  Ecdesiasticall 
state,  and  put  forth  under  the  name  and  title  of  a  Petition 
directed  to  her  Maiestie.  Wherein  not  onely  the  frivolous 
discourse  of  the  Petitioners  is  refuted  but  also  the  accusation 
against  the  Disciplinarians  his  clyents  justified,  and  the 
slaunderous  cavils  at  the  present  gouernement  deciphered  ly 
Matthew  Sutcliffe.  The  title-page  is  enriched  with  quota- 
tions not  only  in  English  and  Latin,  but  also  in  Hebrew, 
as  an  outward  sign  of  the  author's  erudition.  There  is  no 
Hebrew  in  the  learned  Petition.  The  Answere  is  a  thorough- 
going defence  of  the  entire  prelatical  policy,  justifying  every- 
thing. Sutcliffe  can  defend  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  his 
denunciation  of  the  pride  and  covetousness  of  Bishops, 
written  in  the  days  of  his  poverty  and  exile  in  the  too 
notorious  Harlorowe : — 

Bishop  Elmar  some  time,  before  he  came  abroad  into  the  world, 
supposed  the  liuings  of  bishops  to  bee  too  great,  hee  knew  not 


248  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

then  the  malice  of  man,  nor  the  state  of  things,  now  he  con- 
fesseth  therein  his  oversight,  is  it  not  lawfull  for  him  to  amend 
his  error1?  (p.  17). 

Aylmer,  we  know,  did  amend  his  error  by  becoming  the  Dives 
among  the  episcopacy,  probably  the  most  avaricious  among 
them  all.  Then,  differing  even  from  Whitgift,  as  well  as 
from  Bridges,  Cooper,  and  others  of  their  party,  Sutcliffe  is 
of  the  school  of  Bancroft,  and  admits  no  fact  or  argument 
adduced  by  his  opponents.  They  and  their  arguments  are 
all  bad  together.  The  treatment  of  John  Udall,  which 
shocked  most  men  and  roused  an  extraordinary  amount  of 
sympathy,  Sutcliffe  declares  to  have  been  both  just  and  law- 
ful. '  John  Udall,  a  man  utterly  unlearned  [yet  he  wrote  a 
Hebrew  commentary !]  and  very  factious  was,  as  you  have 
heard,  condemned  upon  the  statute  of  23  Eliz.  2,  etc.'  In 
keeping  with  the  regular  instructions  evidently  given  to  all 
the  writers  engaged  by  Bancroft,  the  religious  reformers  are 
associated  with  disreputable  causes.  Wigginton  and  Udall 
are  classed  with  the  Bedlamites  Hacket  and  Coppinger ;  to 
the  latter  Throkmorton  wrote  a  letter,  says  Sutcliffe,  little 
more  than  six  weeks  before  the  pitiful  farce  in  Cheap- 
side  : — 

So  first  came  forth  Martin  and  diuers  pamphlets  of  like  argu- 
ment :  afterwarde  rose  up  king  Hacket  the  great  emperour  of 
the  disciplinarian  faction,  and  his  prophets,  the  onely  fault  was 
that  their  patriarkes  were  not  readie  to  followe  them,  or  could 
not  follow  them,  for  the  multitude  of  boyes  that  gaped  and 
gazed  vpon  them  (p.  73). 

He  also  assigns  to  Throkmorton  all  the  '  libels  and  scoffes 
published  under  the  name  of  Martin,  as  namely  his  theses, 
protestations,  dialogues,  arguments,  laying  men  out  in  their 
colours'  (p.  202).  Earlier,  however,  he  ascribes  to  him 
only  a  contingent  share  in  these  writings,  '  I.  Penty,  I. 
Vd[all],  I.  Fpeld],  all  lohns,  and  I.  Thr[okmorton]  that  all 
concurred  in  making  of  Martin'  (p.  78). 

Sutcliffe  seizes  upon  the  remark  of  Martin  that  the  need 
of  unity  in  the  nation  in  face  of  the  threatenings  of  the 


ANCILLARY  LITERATURE  249 

Spaniard  would  be  favourable  to  urging  the  abolition  of 
those  popish  remnants  in  the  polity  of  the  Church,  which 
were  the  most  fruitful  source  of  divisions  among  them, 
although  no  one  thought  of  defending  them  except  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  part  of  the  law — that  is,  they  had 
been  ordered  by  Elizabeth.  '  There  could  be/  he  says,  '  no 
greater  argument  of  their  disloyall  proceedings.'  Even  the 
publication  of  the  Tracts  at  such  a  time  tended  to  weaken 
the  loyal  sentiments  of  the  people.  He  even  accuses  them 
of  preaching  seditious  sermons,  which  we  may  be  certain 
they  did  not ;  none  were  either  more  antagonistic  to  the 
Spaniards  or  loyal  to  Elizabeth  (p.  54). 

4.  Bancroft's  Disciplinary  Tracts. — In  the  year  1593, 
by  which  time  the  folly  of  employing  men  of  the  character 
of  Nash  and  Lily  to  champion  the  episcopal  cause  was 
evident,  Bancroft  himself  came  forward  with  two  volumes. 
The  first  was  A  survey  of  the  pretended  Holy  Discipline  and 
the  other,  presumably  after  an  interval  of  some  months, 
Davngerous  Positions  and  Proceedings,  published  and  practised 
within  this  Hand  of  Brytaine  and  under  pretence  of  Reforma- 
tion, and  for  the  Presbyteriall  Discipline.  Both  books  evi- 
dently consist  of  his  notes  and  extracts,  prepared  for  the 
campaign  against  Martin,  somewhat  clumsily  put  together ; 
for  he  had  no  literary  aptitudes.  When  urging  Bancroft's 
pre-eminent  claims  to  be  appointed  a  bishop,  Whitgift 
observes  that  '  by  his  only  diligence '  he  intercepted  Penry's 
seditious  writings  coming  from  Scotland.  He  was  also  '  an 
especial  man  that  gave  the  instructions  to  her  Maities  learned 
Council,  when  Martins  Agents  were  brought  into  the  Star 
Chamber.'  These  are  his  'collections.'  But  Whitgift 
manages  to  give  him  credit  twice  over  for  the  same  service : 
first  for  supplying  the  brief  to  the  prosecuting  counsel,  and 
secondly  for  publishing  two  books  '  greatly  liked  and  greatly 
commended,'  which  consist  of  the  same  brief  put  into  print. 
For,  the  most  part  they  are  composed  of  bare  quotations 
from  the  books  which  are  to  be  attacked.  In  his 
Dangerous  Positions,  the  '  firste  booke '  consists  of  extended 
quotations  from  Knox's  writings.  The  '  second  Booke ' 


250  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

turns  its  attention  to  English  reformers.  He  mentions 
correctly  the  '  sixe  bookes  of  Consistorian  grauity '  of 
Martin,  omitting  only  the  broadside.  In  this  section  his 
c  chapters '  are  not  always  very  comprehensive.  Chapter  x. 
consists  of  less  than  two  pages  of  quotation  without  com- 
ment ;  the  next  chapter  is  similarly  made  up  of  part  of  a 
page  of  quotation;  and  so  on.  Occasionally  he  entertains 
us  with  a  story  drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  the  secret 
discipline,  as  narrated  in  the  depositions  of  the  informers. 
Richard  Hawgar,  an  informer  who  had  professed  the  '  con- 
sistorian '  creed,  in  order  to  get  into  their  councils,  tells  the 
story  of  one  Hoeknel,  who  was  anxious  to  get  a  vacant 
living  in  Northamptonshire.  The  patron  required  him  to 
get  a  testimonial  of  his  fitness  from  the  ministers  of  his 
district.  He  therefore  applied  to  Snape  of  St.  Peter's, 
Northampton,  who  appointed  a  Session  to  meet  in  his  own 
church,  when  brother  Hoeknel  should  be  judicially  heard. 
After  the  sermon  was  over  Penry  delivered  an  exhortation 
to  the  '  sermon  tasters  '  to  judge  '  without  affectation.'  But 
like  the  celebrated  episcopal  egg,  the  sermon  proved  only 
to  be  good  in  parts,  and  Hocknell  was  admonished  to  '  be 
at  more  paines  at  his  book '  before  they  could  '  allow  of 
him.'  With  this  judgment  Hocknell  himself  refused  to 
agree,  and  Bancroft  tells  with  a  chuckle  how  a  violent 
quarrel  ensued  in  which  the  disparaged  candidate  defied 
the  presbytery.1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Bancroft 
quotes  from  certain  Dialogues  which  he  attributes  to 
Throkmorton.  No  copies  appear  to  exist  now ;  possibly 
they  never  were  printed,  but  were  part  of  the  intercepted 
Penry-Throkmorton  writings.  In  one  of  them  Bancroft 
states  the  following  judgment  of  Whitgift  occurred  : — 

Of  all  the  Bishops  that  euer  were  in  the  See  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterburie,  there  was  neuer  any  did  so  much  hurt  to  the 
Church  of  God  as  he  hath  done.  No  bishop  that  euer  had  such 
an  aspiring  and  ambitious  minde  as  hee,  no  not  Cardinall  Wolsey. 
None  so  proud  as  he ;  No  not  Stephen  Gardiner  of  Winchester. 

1  Dangerous  Positions,  bk.  iii.  ch.  xiii. 


ANCILLARY  LITERATURE  251 

None  so  tirranical  as  he;  no  not  Bonner.  He  sits  upon  his 
cogging  stoole,  which  may  trulie  be  called  the  chaire  of 
pestilence.  His  mouth  is  full  of  cursing  against  God  and  his 
Saintes.  His  feet  are  swift  to  shed  bloud  :  there  is  none 
of  Gods  children,  but  had  as  leeue  see  a  Serpent  as  meet 
him.1 

There  is  a  deliberate  attempt  to  identify  the  leading  Puritans 
and  Nonconformists,  especially  Wigginton  and  Throkmorton, 
with  Racket's  so-called  conspiracy. 

5.  Throkmorton  and  Sutcliffe. — The  echoes  of  the  Mar- 
prelate  controversy  die  out  in  a  final  conflict  between  Job 
Throkmorton  and  Sutcliffe  in  the  years  1594  and  1595. 
The  inclusion  of  Throkmorton  by  Sutcliffe,  in  1592,  in  the 
number  of  those  who  were  believed  to  have  had  a  hand  in 
the  authorship  of  the  Tracts,  would  probably  have  been  allowed 
to  rest,  had  Throkmorton  had  his  own  way.  He  had  wisdom 
enough,  doubtless,  to  let  sleeping  dogs  lie.  But  though  he  had 
a  mysterious  defence  against  his  clerical  persecutors  which 
prevented  them  from  punishing  him,  by  fine,  or  imprison- 
ment, or  hanging,  as  had  been  the  lot  of  all  others  who 
were  proved  to  have  been  in  any  way  compromised  in  the 
literary  conspiracy ;  he  could  not  help  the  reiterated  accu- 
sation, in  social  intercourse,  in  court  gossip,  in  county 
gatherings,  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  Bishops  and  their 
agents  he  was  the  most  deeply  involved  person  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  writings  bearing  the  signature  of  Martin 
Marprelate,  and  also  in  the  Hacket^asco.  Matters  at  last 
reached  that  pass  that  it  was  needful  that  he  should  come 
forth  in  print  if  he  meant  to  disavow  all  connection  with 
the  tracts  and  the  Hacket  affair,  or  at  least  the  connection 
assigned  to  him  in  the  rumours  floated  and  sustained  by 
the  clerics. 

(a)  This  he  did  in  1594,  in  The  Defence  of  Job  Throk- 
morton against  the  slaunders  of  Maister  Sutcliffe,  taken  out  of 
a  Copye  of  his  owne  hande  as  it  was  written  to  an  honorable 
Personage.  There  is  indeed  a  suspicion  aroused  by  the  form 
of  the  title-page  that  he  had  purposed  his  Defence  to  have 

1  Dangerous  Positions^  bk.  ii.  ch.  xii. 


252  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

remained  in  manuscript,  and  that  the  '  honorable  Personage  ' 
undertook  the  responsibility  of  handing  it  over  to  some 
printer  so  as  to  secure  for  it  a  wide  publicity.  A  hint  in 
the  pages  of  Sutcliffe  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  the 
c  honorable  Personage '  is  Job's  mother,  Katherine  Neville. 
It  would  serve  no  purpose  to  follow  Throkmorton's  defence 
of  himself  against  the  charge  of  complicity  in  the  farce 
associated  with  the  name  of  the  religious  maniac  Hacket. 
Men  like  Hacket  and  Copinger  and  Arthington  are  often 
sane  enough  in  the  intervals,  when  they  are  not  thinking  or 
speaking  upon  the  one  topic  associated  with  their  mental 
aberration.  And  these  men  at  first  professed  a  profound 
sympathy  with  the  '  seekers  after  reformation ' ;  but  the 
moment  they  broached  the  story  of  their  visions  and  the 
divine  revolution  which  was  to  be  effected,  with  Hacket  as 
its  prophet,  the  reforming  party  let  them  severely  alone. 
Long  before  Hacket,  standing  in  his  cart  in  Cheapside,  pro- 
claimed the  new  Era,  they  had  turned  aside  from  the  crazy 
fanatics  with  contempt.  Throkmorton's  defence  of  himself 
is  quite  sufficient;  and  for  politic  reasons  he  allows  it  to 
occupy  a  large  space  in  his  book.  He  is  on  sure  ground, 
and  the  narrative  of  Copinger  waylaying  him,  and  of  the 
madman's  rambling  and  endless  prayer,  in  spite  of  the 
subject  is  amusing.  Copinger  rather  hustled  the  not  un- 
devout  Throkmorton  on  to  his  knees  and  kept  him  there. 
'  But  the  issue  was  that,  hauinge  caught  some  colde,  and 
beeing  nothing  well  before,  this  long  kneeling  and  late 
tarying  in  that  snowie  and  frostie  season,  did  not  helpe 
anie  whit  to  diminishe,  but  rather  to  increase  my  grief 
[illness]  and  brought  me  to  a  fitte  of  an  ague.'  He  then 
gives  us,  in  the  same  connection,  an  interesting  bit  of 
personal  history : — 

Not  long  after  this,  when  I  had  something  recouered  my 
selfe,  I  went  to  visite  Maister  Cart\wrighf\  in  the  Fleete,  vnto 
whom  I  signified  what  had  passed  betwixt  Maister  Copinger  and 
me,  and  of  the  newe  acquaintance  that  he  would  needes  fasten 
and  enforce  vpon  me.  But  he  bade  me  in  any  wise  beware  and 
take  heed  of  him,  for  he  feared  him  greatlie ;  that  certeinlie  all 


\1 
UNIVC 

JJ 

^ 
•^ANCILLARY  LITERATURE  253 


was  not  well  with  him,  and  that  he  had  Iwsum  principium  [marg. 
*  That  is,  some  crazing  of  the  braine ']  at  the  least,  telling  me 
howe  faine  he  would  haue  propounded  and  fastened  some  of  his 
fooleries  and  phantasticall  revelations  vpon  him.  But  (sayeth 
he)  I  have  returned  him  such  an  answere,  as  I  beleeve  he  will 
not  greatlie  like  of,  neither  seeke  to  me  in  haste  againe  for 
resolution  [advice]  (Sig.  A  iii.  and  vers.). 

Throkmorton  is  much  more  brief  and  concise  in  dealing 
with  the  Marprelate  accusation.  But  he  is  definite.  He 
notes  that  his  name  comes  in  at  the  close  of  Sutcliffe's  list 
of  implicated  persons,  although  earlier  holding  him  alone  to 
blame.  In  a  better  mood  Sutcliffe  had  only  brought  him 
in  '  as  a  candle  holder.'  Then  presently  he  says  that  he  is 
willing  to  take  an  oath  'whensoever  it  shall  be  thought  so 
good  by  the  State/  '  That  I  am  not  Martin,  I  knewe  not 
Martin,  And  concerning  that  I  stande  enlightened  of,  I  am 
as  cleare  as  the  childe  unborne '  (Sig.  E  ij.). 

He  has  his  own  accusation  against  Sutcliffe  for  his  dis- 
honourable methods  of  controversy.  As  an  example  of  this 
he  quotes  a  reported  statement  by  Egerton  that  '  though  he 
would  be  loth  to  quench  any  man's  enthusiasm  in  so  cold 
and  frozen  an  age  as  theirs  .  .  .  yet  he  was  persuaded  that 
the  supposed  revelations  of  Copingers  were  but  meere 
illusions  of  Satance.'  This  reproduced  in  the  controversial 
methods  of  Sutcliffe  becomes  the  following :  That  Egerton's 
advice  to  Copinger  was  that  he  should  beware  of  being 
misled  by  Satan,  but  at  the  same  time  he  should  be  loath 
to  quench  the  Spirit  of  God  in  him  or  hinder  his  zeal 
(Sig.  B  iv.  vers.). 

(6)  It  was  the  following  year  (1595)  before  SutclifTe 
replied  in  An  Answere  unto  a  certaine  calumnious  letter 
published  by  M.  Job  Throkmorton  and  entituled,  etc.,  .  .  . 
Wherein  the  vanitie  both  of  the  defence  of  himselfe,  and  the 
accusation  of  others  is  manifestly  declared,  in  which  he 
vigorously  returns  to  the  attack  and  insists  upon  the  chief 
responsibility  of  the  Squire  of  Haseley  for  Martin's  '  libels.' 
By  this  time  he  had  in  his  possession  the  whole  of  the 
evidence  collected  by  the  Government,  including  several 


254  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

important  depositions  which  are  probably  not  at  this  time 
in  existence.  He  also  refers  to  a  number  of  printed  works 
not  now  known  to  be  in  any  of  our  chief  libraries.  More- 
over, he  had  seen  the  manuscripts  of  the  later  Tracts,  and 
professed  to  be  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  handwriting 
of  Throkmorton  and  Penry.  And  though  we  find  him 
erring  here  and  there,  and  know  him  capable  of  unfairly 
distorting  the  evidence  against  an  opponent,  it  must  be 
recognised  that,  interested  partisan  though  he  was,  he  was 
in  a  position  of  great  advantage  to  ascertain  the  truth  lying 
behind  the  mysterious  anonymity  of  Martin  Marprelate. 
It  is,  however,  unnecessary  here  to  enter  into  the  evidence 
he  adduces,  since  it  will  be  necessary  to  exhibit  it  when 
we  definitely  consider  the  problem  before  we  close  this 
Introduction. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHORSHIP 

Section  I. — The  General  Character  of  the  Marprelate 
Writings 

1.  The  Indictment  against  them  Framed  on  False  Issues. — 
The  campaign  against  the  evangelical  reformers  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  deliberately  conducted  upon  false  issues.  The 
veritable  ground  of  their  offence  was  seldom,  if  ever,  men- 
tioned. They  were  described  as  Anabaptists,  much  as 
to-day  men  might  call  their  opponents  Socialists  and 
Anarchists.  They  were  hated  because  their  views  were 
supposed  to  favour  '  popular/  that  is,  democratic,  govern- 
ment, and  to  be  secretly  intriguing  to  that  end.  They 
were  classed  along  with  Henry  Niklaes  and  his  Family  of 
Love.  They  were  accused  of  treason  against  the  State,  of 
heresy,  and  even  of  blasphemy.  To-day,  nothing  can  be 
clearer,  than  that  their  condemnation  was,  in  all  the 
particulars  named,  entirely  without  foundation. 

(a)  SEDITION. — The  charge  of  treason  against  the  State 
is  a  curious  allegation,  if  we  recall  the  irrational  lengths 
to  which  the  Nonconformists  carried  their  devotion  to 
Elizabeth.  When  the  Spaniard  and  his  Catholic  hosts, 
with  his  Armada,  were  heading  for  these  shores,  the  reform- 
ing ministers  surpassed  all  others  in  their  patriotic  zeal ; 
preaching  in  London,  three  or  four  times  daily,  to  arouse 
the  people  to  defend  their  country,  and  maintain  their 
faith.1  Stubbe  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  after  the  savage  brutality 

1  A  Petition  directed  to  Her  Majestic,  20,  21. 
255 


256  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

of  chopping  off  his  right  hand  with  a  butcher's  cleaver, 
could  still  cry  '  God  save  the  Queen.'  Barrowe  at  Tyburn 
prayed  fervently  for  Elizabeth.  Nothing  roused  the  in- 
dignation of  the  '  seekers  after  Reformation '  so  quickly  or 
so  surely  as  to  charge  them  with  sedition.  '  The  Papists/ 
said  Axton,  'for  twelve  years  have  been  plotting  treason 
against  the  Queen  and  the  gospel,  yet  this  doth  not  grieve 
you.  But  I  protest  in  the  presence  of  God  and  you  all 
that  I  am  a  true  and  faithful  subject  of  her  majesty.  I 
pray  daily,  both  in  public  and  private,  for  her  safety,  for 
her  long  and  prosperous  reign  and  for  the  overthrow  of  all 
her  enemies,  especially  the  papists.  I  do  profess  myself  an 
enemy  to  her  enemies  and  a  friend  to  her  friends.  If, 
therefore,  you  have  any  conscience,  cease  to  charge  me 
with  disloyalty  to  my  prince.' l  In  this  respect  as  well  as 
in  their  faith  they  were  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  strict 
Catholics.  The  Catholic  enemy,  laying  plans  for  the  in- 
vasion of  England,  could  always  reckon  on  the  support  of 
Catholic  traitors  in  this  country.  There  were  always 
Catholic  Englishmen  in  Philip  of  Spain's  pay,  up  to  the 
date  of  the  Armada.  Nothing  more  shows  the  savage, 
implacable  hatred  of  Elizabeth,  cherished  by  the  Catholics, 
than  the  pamphlet  issued  at  the  beginning  of  1588  by 
Cardinal  Allen,  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Armada.  He 
portrays  Elizabeth  as  a  monster  of  immorality,  to  terminate 
whose  wicked  reign  would  be  an  act  of  piety.2 

(b)  HERESY. — The  reformers  were  not  even  heretics. 
There  was  far  more  theological  solidarity  between  them  and 
the  Bishops,  than  between  the  motley  of  parties  hemmed  in 
to-day  within  the  ring-fence  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity. 
Whitgift  the  persecutor  was  as  definitely  evangelical  as 
Cartwright  his  victim.  Bridges  in  his  Defence  expresses  his 
'  no  small  griefe '  at  having  to  contend  with  those  '  whom 

1  Second  Parte  of  a  Register,  51  ;  Brooke,  Lives,  i.  163. 

2  A  full  account  of  the  pamphlet  is  given  by  Lingard,  Hist.  (1825),  viii. 
535.     Its  title  runs,  'Admonition  to  the  Nobility  and  People  of  England  and 
Ireland  concerninge  tlie  present  warres  tnade  for  the  Execution  of  his  holines 
sentence  by  the  highe  and  mightie  Kinge  Catholicke  of  Spain,  by  the  Cardinal 
of  Englancle.     Anno  MDLXXX  VI II. 


THE  TRACTS   AND   THEIR  AUTHOR      257 

otherwise  in  Christe  I  humbly  acknowledge  to  be  our  deare 
Brethren.'  Even  Bishop  Cooper  in  his  official  reply  to 
Martin  Marprelate  and  his  abetters,  describing  the  different 
types  of  Nonconformists  says,  '  These  bee  such  which  in 
doctrine  agree  with  the  present  state.' l  It  was  notorious 
that  Whitgift's  second  article  of  subscription,  which  en- 
joined acceptance  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  gave  little  or 
no  trouble  to  the  great  majority  of  those  convented  before 
the  High  Commission.  They  objected  to  the  external  polity 
— to  the  aristocratic  hierarchy ;  to  the  civil  lordship  of  the 
Bishops ;  to  the  Vestments,  as  did  also  the  Conformists  in 
principle.  They  would  have  yielded  so  far  as  to  allow 
others  to  wear  the  vestments,  if  they  were  allowed  the  same 
liberty  of  not  wearing  them.  But  clearly,  heretics  they 
were  not,  according  to  the  standard  of  their  persecutors. 

Martin  Marprelate  sustains  the  cause  of  the  evangelical 
reformers  at  all  these  points.  The  empty  formalism  of 
addressing  a  helpless  babe  by  proxy  and  solemnly  inquiring 
if  it  renounced  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  was  a 
fair  mark  for  Martin.  What  genius  could  have  invented 
a  ceremony  more  calculated  to  persuade  men  that  the  re- 
ligion of  the  churches  was  an  empty  convention  ?  Martin's 
attack  was  against  those  elements  in  the  government  of 
the  Church  which  he  considered  to  be  a  denial  of  the 
privileges  of  the  Christian  commonalty  and  to  partake  of 
worldly  ambition ;  and  against  those  ceremonies,  all  of 
them  inherited  from  Romanism,  which  he  believed  to  re- 
present no  spiritual  reality  but  to  minister  to  superstition. 

(c)  BLASPHEMY.  —  The  charge  of  blasphemy  is  as  far 
from  the  mark  as  it  well  could  be.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
a  grave  complaint  alleged  by  Martin  against  the  Bishops 
and  Priests  of  the  establishment,  that  they  are  guilty  of 
shocking  irreverence ;  as  when  Aylmer  garnishes  the  lively 
pages  of  his  Harborowe  with  the  story  of  the  vicar  of 
Trumpington's  presumably  amusing  blunder  in  reading  the 
words  of  Christ  on  the  cross.2  He  cites  other  instances 

1  Admonition,  30. 
2  Op.  cit.     Sig.  G  3  vers.      See  also  THE  EPISTLE,  49. 


258  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

in  which  the  conduct  of  the  sacred  services  approached 
buffoonery.  The  charge  of  blasphemy  against  Martin  was 
sustained  by  his  episcopal  contemporaries  by  a  reference  to 
his  practice  of  substituting  Sir  for  Saint  as  a  title :  Sir 
being  the  equivalent  for  our  ecclesiastical  title  of  Reverend. 
The  reader  can  turn  to  HAY  ANY  WORKE  l  and  see  what  it 
amounts  to.  The  charge  can  only  be  repeated  to-day  by 
those  who  describe  the  Tracts  without  reading  them. 
Nothing  could  be  more  obvious  than  that  they  are  inspired 
by  an  intensely  religious  spirit. 

2.  The  Alleged  Scurrility.  —  The  accusation  that  the 
Tracts  are  scurrilous  ought  not  to  be  made  on  the  strength 
of  one  or  two  extracts ;  certainly  not  without  a  sufficient 
knowledge  of  the  circumstances  which  explain  them  and 
modify  their  interpretation.  Take  two  standing  charges 
which  appear  in  all  the  contemporary  denunciations  of 
Martin :  the  one,  that  he  called  the  members  of  the 
English  episcopate,  '  Bishops  of  the  devil ' ;  the  other,  that 
he  said  that  their  laws  had  no  more  authority  than  the 
laws  which  governed  brothels. 

(a)  As  regards  the  first,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  rail- 
ing epithet  is  a  humorist's  logical  quip.  Martin  retaliat- 
ing upon  the  episcopalian  misconstruction  of  his  figurative 
expressions,  makes  Dean  Bridges  to  be  the  author  of  the 
statement ;  he  therefore  constitutes  it  one  of  his  '  Minerall 
School  Points,'  a  proposition  to  be  academically  defended ; 
so  that  the  '  defendant  in  this  point  (I  thank  him)  is  Father 
John  [Bridges]  o'  Sarum.'2  He  makes  his  point,  briefly, 
in  this  way.  Bridges  quotes,  in  the  Fourth  Book  of  his 
Defence,  Beza's  division  of  Bishops  into  three  classes : 
Bishops  of  God,  of  man,  and  of  the  devil ;  he  then  declares 
dogmatically  that  there  is  no  Bishop  of  man ;  every  Bishop, 
he  says,  being  of  necessity  either  a  Bishop  of  God,  or  a 
Bishop  of  the  devil.  Martin  upon  this  shows  that  the 
Bishops  owe  their  election  not  to  any  divine  right ;  a  claim 
which  Elizabeth  could  be  trusted,  if  ever  it  were  made  by 
those  who  owed  their  position  and  emoluments  entirely  to 

1  Op.  cit.  2.  2  School  Point  No.  15. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR  259 

her  benevolence,  to  meet  in  her  own  vigorous  way.  Bridges 
indeed  does  not  make  any  such  claim.  Now,  says  Martin, 
if  the  Dean  says  that  the  Bishops  are  not  of  man,  and  for 
fear  of  her  Majesty  dare  not  say  that  they  are  of  God,  he 
means  to  say  that  they  are  of  the  devil.1  The  Dialogue 
Wherin  is  Plainly  laid  open,  which  borrows  most  of  its 
controversial  points  from  the  Marprelate  writings,  embodies 
this  quip  in  its  title.  It  professes  to  deal  '  with  certaine 
points  of  [the  Bishops']  doctrine,  wherein  they  approue 
them  selues  (according  to  D.  Bridges  his  judgement)  to  be 
truely  the  Bishops  of  the  Diuell.'  So  when  the  Bishops 
chose  to  believe,  though  it  was  the  merest  pretence  of 
belief,  that  when  Martin  threatened  them  with  '  twenty 
fistes  about  [their]  eares  more  then  [their]  own/  2  he  really 
'  threatened  blowes ' ;  though,  as  Martin  says,  none  could 
be  so  '  grosshead '  as  not  to  understand  that  he  meant  the 
number  of  hands  which  would  be  occupied  in  writing 
against  them3 — and  this  pretence,  persistently  repeated 
had  most  serious  consequences  to  those  who  came  before 
the  ecclesiastical  courts,  on  the  suspicion  that  they  belonged 
to  the  secret  company  concerned  in  the  production  of  the 
Tracts — Martin  retaliates;  not  by  the  stupidity  of  in- 
terpreting a  metaphor  in  an  unfigurative  way,  but  by  an 
ingenious  play  of  logic  proving  that  Bridges  has,  in  effect, 
called  the  reverend  Fathers  the  *  bishops  of  the  devil.3 

(b)  In  regard  to  the  second  common  charge,  that  Martin 
declared  that  the  laws  of  the  Bishops  had  no  more  author- 
ity than  the  laws  regulating  brothels,  the  reader  will 
possibly  be  surprised  to  learn  that  there  had  been,  at  no 
remote  date,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the  Christian  con- 
science, licensed  '  stewes,'  and  that  the  laws  regulating 
them  had  been  framed  by  a  Bishop  of  Winchester.  They 
stood  on  the  Bankside  near  Winchester  House,  and  were 
in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop.  Such  laws,  though  drawn 
up  by  a  Bishop,  could  have  no  more  moral  authority  than 
had  they  been  laws  purporting  to  regulate  the  conditions 

1  See  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  26-28.  2  THE  EPISTLE,  2. 

3  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  sig.  A  3  rect. 


26o  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

under  which  men  might  commit  murder.  The  fact  that 
laws  emanated  from  a  Bishop  gave  them  per  se  no  moral 
authority;  no  more  moral  authority  than  appertained  to 
the  laws  '  of  the  stewes,'  which  a  former  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester promulgated.  The  keepers  of  these  evil -houses 
were  called  '  Winchester  geese.'  * 

(c)  In  reply  to  the  charge  against  Martin  of  calling  the 
Bishops  '  devilish '  and  '  murderers  of  souls/  other,  and  per- 
haps stronger,  ground  must  be  taken.  It  was  the  belief  of 
the  Bishops,  as  it  was  also  that  of  their  victims,  that  the 
eternal  welfare  of  man  depended  upon  his  hearing  and 
accepting  a  certain  body  of  revealed  truth.  Apart  from 
the  acceptance  of  the  infallible  creed,  neither  Whitgift  nor 
Cartwright  knew  of  any  way  of  human  salvation.  Indeed, 
they  did  not  expect  that  any  excessive  multitude  would 
achieve  that  happy  lot.  Such  being  the  stern  and  inflexible 
fact,  why  delay  a  single  hour  in  proclaiming  the  '  conditions 
of  salvation '  ?  Reasoning  from  the  position  occupied  by 
the  Bishops  and  their  antagonists  in  common,  we  might 
say  that  the  Bishops  deprived  the  people  of  salvation  in 
various  ways.  First,  by  not  preaching  the  Gospel,  which  in 
the  face  of  the  desperate  fate  of  the  ignorant  and  the  care- 
less, ought  to  have  been  their  primary  duty.  Secondly,  by 
their  commendams;  for  they  took  as  many  rich  livings  as 
they  could  get,  and  reserving  to  themselves  the  incomes 
from  these  benefices,  they  appointed  as  their  substitutes 
inferior,  incapable,  and  even  unworthy  men,  the  majority  of 
whom  were  not  able  to  preach ;  the  only  class  of  men  they 

1  See  First  Part  of  K.  Hen.  VII.  Act  i.  sc.  iii.  The  houses  on  the 
Bankside  are  mentioned  in  the  reign  of  Hen.  II.,  in  1162,  being  then 
eighteen  in  number.  Strict  rules  were  issued  for  their  regulation,  the  Clink 
prison  being  originally  provided  to  receive  transgressing  'stew -holders.' 
The  title  of  the  rules  established  by  the  Act  8  Hen.  II.  runs,  '  Ordinances 
touching  the  government  of  the  Stewholders  in  Southwark  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester.'  As  further  indicating  their  ecclesiastical 
patronage,  one  of  the  houses  bore  the  sign  '  The  Cardinal's  Hat. '  They  were 
not  finally  abolished  till  1546,  under  Hen.  VIII. ;  until  which  time  the 
profits  accruing  from  their  licences  were  no  doubt  in  the  hands  of  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester.  See  Manning  and  Bray's  Hist,  of  Surrey  (London,  1814), 
iii.  pt.  3,  p.  587  ;  Stowe's  London  (ed.  1754),  ii.  9  ;  Maitland's  London,  ii. 
1391  ;  Harrison's  Description  of  England  (Furnivall's  ed.),  App.  by  W. 
Rendle,  F.R.C.S. 


THE  TRACTS   AND  THEIR   AUTHOR     261 

were  likely  to  get  for  the  pittance  on  which  they  had  to 
subsist.  Next,  they  tolerated  the  like  pluralism  in  others, 
with  similarly  disastrous  results.  Moreover,  for  mere 
matters  of  external  form  they  deprived  the  men  who  did 
preach  the  Gospel  with  power,  and  placed  in  their  stead 
men  utterly  unfitted  for  such  an  office.  Aylmer  had  the 
shocking  effrontery  to  pension  off  his  purblind  gate-keeper 
by  giving  him  the  living  of  Paddington.1  Of  the  scan- 
dalous ignorance  and  un sanctified  ways  of  the  clergy  Martin 
gives  some  instances.  That  his  instances  are  nothing  very 
exceptional  may  be  easily  shown.  For  example,  we  learn 
from  a  contemporary  Survey  the  condition  of  the  churches 
of  Essex  (formerly  included  in  the  see  of  London)  after 
Aylmer  had  deprived  all  the  laborious  nonconforming 
ministers.  Its  testimony  is  painful  enough.  Gamesters 
and  alehouse  haunters  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
clerical  list.  The  curate  [deputy  minister]  of  Little  Eston 
was  '  sometime  a  pedlar ;  a  swearer.'  The  vicar  of  Shopland 
was  '  sometime  a  serving-man ;  unable  to  preach,  for  he 
cannot  render  an  account  of  his  faith,  neither  in  Latin  nor 
English.'  At  Munden  there  is  also  a  serving-man ;  at 
Tolleshunt  D'Arcy  an  ex-tailor ;  and  at  Upminster  an  ex- 
grocer.  The  curate  of  Romford  was  '  thrice  presented  for  a 
drunkard ' ;  and  there  are  a  number  of  others  guilty  of  the 
same  evil  habit.  The  curate  of  Alberton  had  been  a  linen- 
draper  ;  another,  a  mender  of  saddles  and  pannels ;  the 
parson  of  South  Hanningfield  was  first  a  fishmonger,  and 
after  that  a  buttonmaker ;  the  parson  of  Widford  was 
'  heretofore  a  serving-man  or  a  soldier ;  a  gamester,  a  pot 
companion  .  .  .  was  called  to  the  spiritual  court  for  the 
same ;  the  curate  of  Blackmore  a  sow-gelder.' 2  But  we 
need  not  pursue  the  matter  further  in  this  place.  It  has 
been  referred  to  more  than  once  in  these  pages,  and  occurs 
many  times  in  the  annotations  to  the  Tracts.  The  point  to 
be  borne  in  mind  is,  that  the  Bishops  and  the  '  seekers  after 

1  THE  EPISTLE,  M.  19,  f.  52,  and  note. 

2  The  Survey  is  printed  in  extenso  in  Davids'  Annals  of  Evang.  Noncon- 
formity in  Essex,  88-105. 


262  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

reformation '  believed  that  human  salvation  rested  upon  the 
acceptance  of  a  definite  evangelical  truth,  failing  which  a 
soul  went  of  necessity  to  an  eternal  hell  of  fire ;  we  can 
therefore  understand  the  cry  of  these  'painfull  preachers/ 
and  of  gravely  religious  men  of  the  class  of  Knightley  of 
Eawsley  and  Job  Throkmorton  of  Haseley,  that,  by  their 
suppression,  on  the  ground  of  some  twopenny  informality, 
of  the  earnest,  spiritually-minded  ministers,  and  by  their 
institution  of  this  riff-raff  into  the  sacred  office,  the  Bishops 
were  responsible  for  the  ignorance  and  the  abounding 
wickedness  of  the  parishes ;  were,  indeed,  none  other  than 
'murderers  of  souls.' 

3.  The  Patriotism  of  Marprelate. — Martin  Marprelate 
takes  a  definite  stand  upon  the  unconstitutional  character 
of  Whitgift's  procedure  in  the  Court  of  High  Commission. 
In  this  denunciation  he  has  the  support  of  the  strongest 
legal  minds  of  his  time,  and  in  succeeding  ages  no  one  has 
been  found  to  dispute  Coke's  opinion  of  the  essential  illegality 
of  the  tribunal.  The  reviving  act  at  the  beginning  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign  could  only  renew  the  life  and  currency  of  what 
was  previously  legal ;  it  could  neither  restrict  nor  yet  enlarge 
the  scope  of  a  revived  statute.  Nor  could  the  constitutional 
foundations  of  the  kingdom  be  abrogated  by  first  legally 
creating  a  royal  commission,  and  then  illegally  endowing  it 
with  new  and  unknown  and  extra  -  statutory  powers.1 
Eeference  is  not  infrequently  made  to  the  statute  13  Eliz. 
cap.  12,  which  concerns  the  'Reformation  of  Disorders  in 
the  Ministers  of  the  Church.'  It  enacts  that  all  priests  or 
ministers  not  ordained  under  the  authorised  form  of  Edward 
VI.  and  Elizabeth,  shall  subscribe  to  'all  the  Articles  of 
Religion,  which  only  concern  the  Confession  of  the  true 
Christian  faith  and  the  Doctrine  of  the  Sacraments,'  and 
were  agreed  upon  at  the  Convocation  of  1562.2  This  many 
of  the  imprisoned  reformers  were  ready  to  do ;  it  was  a 
different  matter  to  compel  them  to  subscribe  to  Whitgift's 

1  See  above,  p.  75. 

2  See  the  Statute.     The  section  is  given  in  Sparrow's  Collection  and  in 
Prothero's  Select  Statutes. 


THE  TRACTS   AND   THEIR  AUTHOR      263 

second  article.     With  equal  warmth,  again,  Martin  denounces 
the  erection  of  the  canon  law  above  the  constitutional  law 
of  the  realm.     And  in  this  he  was  powerfully  supported  by 
such  men  as  Sir  Francis  Knollys,  Attorney  Morrice,  Beale, 
Clerk  of  the  Council,  and  others  of  great  authority.      It  was 
their  contention  that  the  authority  of  canon  law  was  definitely 
abolished ;    that   he   that   asserted   canon   law  against   the 
common  law   of  the   land   subjected   himself   to    the  writ 
premunire.      Martin  threatens  more  than  once  that  he  will 
have  this  writ  issued  against  the  Bishops.     Particularly,  as 
the  progeny  of  the  canon  law,  does  he  attack,  with  all  his 
resources,  the  scandalous  oath  ex  officio,  that  priestly  instru- 
ment of  oppression,  for  refusing  which  men  were  thrust  into 
the  terrible  prisons  of  the   time.      Many  died  in  these  foul 
dungeons   of   cold   and   hunger,  of  villainous  ill-treatment, 
and,  most  of  all,  of  putrid  fevers ;  men  and   women  who 
were   among  the  most  patriotic  as  well  as  the  most  pious 
spirits  in  England.1      It  needed  but  little  to  rouse  the  ire  of 
an  autocratic  and  '  choleric '  man  like  Whitgift ;  and  then 
his  temper,  and  not  any  legal  principle  or  enactment,  deter- 
mined the  fate  of  the  poor  prisoner  before  him.     '  Keep  him 
close '  he  would  cry  to  the  gaoler,  as  in  a  rage  he  waved  the 
unfortunate  man  away  from  his  presence  to  the  '  little  ease ' 
at  Newgate  or  Bridewell.      '  A  fourth  kind  of  torture  was 
a  cell  called  "  little  ease."     It  was   of  so  small  dimensions 
and  so  constructed   that  the  prisoner  could  neither  stand, 
walk,  sit,  or   lie   at  length.     He  was    compelled  to   draw 
himself  up  in  a  squatting  posture,  and  so  remained  several 
days.' 2       Martin    called    the    men    who    so    treated    their 
religious  opponents,  in  defiance  of  law,  of  religion,  nay,  of 
common  humanity,  devils ;   and  it  is  difficult  not  to  sympa- 
thise with  the  honest  anger  which  prompted  the  use  of  such 
a  harsh  expression. 

4.   The  Justification  of  Martins  Wit  and  Satire. — The 
question    of    the    employment    of    satire   and   wit,  jocular 

1  See  the  Lamentable  Petition  of  the  Bishops'  prisoners,  July  18,  1588. 
Had.  MSS.  6848.  7.     Arber's  Sketch,  35. 

2  Lingard's  History,  viii.  note  [U],  p.  522.     See  above,  p.  130,  n.  3. 


264  THE  MARPRELATE   TRACTS 

raillery  and  racy  gossip,  to  further  religious  ends  is  specially 
considered  by  Martin  in  his  writings.  Penry,  we  know, 
quoted  the  example  of  Beza's  Passavantius,  Aldegonde's 
Bee- Hive,  and  similar  writings,  in  justification  of  jesting  in 
such  matters.  Martin  knew  too  well  that  he  had  offended 
by  his  methods  the  graver  members  of  the  Puritans.1 
The  preachers  '  misliked  him/  Udall  can  employ  great 
severity  of  language ;  but  he  dislikes  Martin's  '  manner/ 
Cartwright  had  from  the  beginning  indicated  his  aversion 
to  the  introduction  of  jocose  badinage  into  so  grave  a  con- 
troversy.2 But  Martin,  let  it  be  said,  jests  with  discrimi- 
nation ;  never  doubting,  in  certain  cases,  his  justification, 
while  equally  careful  not  to  indulge  in  facetiousness  on 
other  occasions.  Here  are  his  own  words,  following  his 
exposure  of  what  he  supposed  was  the  corruption  of  the 
government  of  Christ's  Church  : — 

I  am  not  disposed  to  jest  in  this  serious  matter.  I  am  called 
Martin  Marprelate.  There  may  be  many  that  greatly  dislike 
my  doings.  I  may  have  my  wants  [deficiencies]  ;  for  I  am  a  man. 
But  my  course  I  know  to  be  ordinary  [according  to  rule  or 
order],  and  lawful.  I  saw  the  cause  of  Christ's  government,  and 
of  the  Bishops'  anti Christian  dealing,  to  be  hidden.  The  most 
part  of  men  could  not  be  gotten  to  read  anything  written  in  the 
defence  of  the  one  and  against  the  other.  I  bethought  me, 
therefore,  of  a  way,  whereby  men  might  be  drawn  to  do  both ; 
perceiving  the  humours  of  men  in  these  times  (especially  of 
those  that  are  in  any  place  [of  authority])  to  be  given  to  mirth. 
I  took  that  course.  I  might  lawfully  do  it.  Aye,  for  jesting  is 
lawful  by  circumstances,  even  in  the  greatest  matters.  The 
circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  persons  urged  me  thereunto. 
I  never  profaned  the  Word  [of  God]  in  any  jest.  Other  mirth 
I  used  as  a  covert  [a  ruse],  wherein  I  would  bring  the  truth  into 
light.  The  Lord  being  the  author  both  of  mirth  and  gravity,  is 
it  not  lawful  in  itself,  for  the  truth  to  use  either  of  these  ways, 
when  the  circumstances  make  it  lawful  1 3 

Martin's  judgment  in  this  matter  was  greatly  in  advance 
of  his  time,  and  no  doubt  was  sound.  There  are  tyrants  of 
the  type  of  Whitgift,  irascible  in  temper,  wanting  in  a  sense 

1  THE  EPITOME,  2.  2  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  14.  3  Ibid.  14. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR   265 

of  humour,  insensible  to  an  opponent's  argument,  admitting 
nothing,  absolute  in  all  their  statements,  who  can  only  be 
touched  by  ridicule.  They  wince  when  in  derision  men 
laugh  at  them.  This  vain  priest,  riding  at  the  head  of  a 
princely  cavalcade,  forty  gentlemen  in  chains  of  gold 
forming  part  of  the  glittering  retinue,  which  sometimes 
numbered  five  hundred  horse ;  or,  seated  in  state  in  his 
palace  on  great  festival  days,  and  served  '  upon  the  knee ' 
by  his  gentlemen  attendants ;  conscious,  no  doubt,  that  he 
is  '  the  second  person  in  the  kingdom ' ;  even  he  finds  a  fly 
in  his  perfumed  ointment.  Far  and  near  men  were  seeing 
him,  shorn  of  his  gauds,  his  army  of  showy  dependents 
dismissed,  occupying  the  stage,  and  made  to  dance  a 
whimsical  measure,  while  Martin  in  cap  and  bells  pounded 
the  drum.  After  such  a  guffaw  of  laughter,  how  could  he 
take  himself  seriously  thenceforward  ?  He  had  only  one 
resource;  for  the  Bancroft  literary  programme  never  did 
Martin  much  harm.  He  wrought  his  vengeance  on  all  who 
were  suspected  of  any  sort  of  relationship  to  the  production 
of  the  Tracts ;  and  in  the  Court  of  High  Commission  a 
verdict  was  never  given  for  the  defendant.1  Though 
Whitgift  died  without  positive  knowledge  of  the  identity 
of  Martin,  his  hand  was  heavy  and  remorseless  on  the 
suspected  persons  he  succeeded  in  capturing :  Udall, 
Wigginton,  Cartwright,  Knightley,  Hales,  and  Wigston, 
whom  he  imprisoned  and  fined ;  Barrowe  and  Greenwood, 
whom  he  succeeded  in  hanging  despite  the  powerful  and 
distinguished  influence  exercised  in  their  favour ;  Penry, 
whom  he  hanged  with  less  trouble,  precipitately  on  receiving 
a  rumour  of  his  possible  escape ;  and  many  others  of  lesser 
note  and  degree,  whose  sufferings  were  necessary  to  salve 
the  Archbishop's  wounded  pride. 

5.   The    Tracts    a    great    Protest    against    Oppression. —  / 

Essentially,  the  Marprelate  Tracts   are    a   protest    against  L 

oppression ;  a  cry  for  more  liberty ;  first,  for  religious 
liberty,  and  then  by  necessity  for  civil  liberty.  The  battle 
for  liberty  in  England  has  always  been  fought  in  the  first 

1  See  ante,  77. 


I 


266  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

instance  on  religious  grounds.  Free  speech  was  secured 
first  by  men  who  wanted  its  freedom  in  order  to  preach 
their  religious  convictions.  And  self-government  was  first 
gained  by  men  who  esteemed  themselves  to  be  Christ's  free- 
men. They  secured  it  in  the  government  of  their  separate 
churches,  and  became  naturally  its  champions  in  the  field  of 
political  progress.  Nevertheless,  struggling  as  they  were  for 
liberty,  the  men  whose  cause  is  upheld  by  Martin  had  an  in- 
complete conception  of  its  nature.  This  arose  mainly  from 
two,  or  if  we  take  the  special  antagonism  of  all  Protest- 
ants to  the  existence  of  Romanism,  then  from  three  causes. 
(a)  THE  EXCEPTION  AGAINST  ROMANISM. — The  case  of 
granting  liberty  of  worship  to  the  Romanists  appeared  to 
English  Protestants,  Conformists  and  Nonconformists,  as 
though  it  were  a  question  of  allowing  a  savage  dog  to  go 
about  unmuzzled.  They  regarded  the  Romish  priest  as  a 
public  danger.  His  propaganda  was  political  as  well  as 
religious.  The  strongest  religious  prejudices  ceased  to 
divide  men  in  the  presence  of  the  horrible  record  of  Bishop 
Bonner  and  Queen  Mary.  The  common  people,  with  the 
directness  of  judgment  which  so  often  characterises  them, 
knew  nothing  of  the  extenuations  urged  to-day  by 
pseudo-liberal  writers  on  this  period;  historians  who  find 
the  explanation  of  ancient  crimes  in  the  impersonal  and 
irresponsible  spirit  of  the  time.  Bishop  Creighton  finds  the 
explanation  of  Pope  Alexander  in  the  tendencies  of  his  age ; 
his  '  exceptional  infamy '  is  mitigated  by  the  remark,  that 
'  he  did  not  add  hypocrisy  to  his  other  vices.'  That  is, 
that  when  the  Borgias  were  lost  even  to  that  last  tribute  to 
righteousness,  a  sense  of  shame  before  the  public  gaze,  the 
Bishop  casts  this  last  deadness  to  the  world's  moral 
judgment,  the  descent  to  the  level  of  the  dog  in  the  street, 
into  the  scale  of  virtue.  At  any  rate,  says  he,  they  were 
not  hypocrites.  In  his  discussion  with  Lord  Acton  on  this 
point,  we  do  our  willing  homage  to  the  Romanist  layman, 
rather  than  to  the  Protestant  Bishop.1  Almost  every 
history  dealing  with  religious  persecution  which  now  issues 

1  See  the  Life  of  Bishop  Creighton,  368  if. 


THE  TRACTS   AND  THEIR   AUTHOR      267 

from  the  press,  and  the  obliquity  even  affects  the  editing  of 
our  public  records,  follows  the  same  vicious  example  :  rather 
than  to  be  blamed,  Mary  is  to  be  pitied ;  she  is  the  victim 
of  the  '  tendencies  of  her  age ' ;  she  is  '  more  sinned  against 
than  sinning.'  And  so  the  moral  currency  is  debased. 
There  is  no  more  valuable  asset  in  a  nation's  inventory  than 
a  gift  of  righteous  indignation  and  anger  in  the  presence  of 
a  great  wrong.  The  common  people  of  the  sixteenth 
century  in  England,  those  days  of  the  torture-chamber  and 
the  fiery  stake,  were  apparently  immune  to  these  alleged 
tendencies  of  their  age.  They  called  things,  in  their  rude 
way,  by  their  right  names.  Bonner  was  the  '  Butcher,'  and 
the  Queen  '  Bloody  Mary.'  Moreover,  they  inherited  the 
age-long  tradition  that  the  rule  of  the  Roman  Church  was 
the  rule  of  the  foreigner ;  the  rule  of  the  Italian  cardinals 
who  had  held  the  richest  livings  in  the  land  and  lived  in 
riot  at  Rome ;  the  rule  of  the  Spaniard  who  endowed 
Mary's  kingdom  with  the  marriage-gift  of  the  thumbscrew, 
and  finally  sent  a  none-such  Armada  to  invade  its  shores. 
The  chief  of  the  foreigners  was  the  Pope.  He  blessed  every 
treasonable  project  abroad  against  the  realm  and  its  liber- 
ties ;  he  rejoiced  at  the  Bartholomew  massacre  across  the 
Channel ;  he  complacently  smiled  on  the  conspiracies  to 
assassinate  Elizabeth  and  to  raise  a  rebellion  against  her 
throne.  The  resolution  to  allow  no  liberty  to  Romanism 
arose  from  causes  powerful  enough  to  turn  many  English- 
men from  that  faith  to  Protestantism ;  causes  which  have 
delayed  the  emancipation  of  Romanists  until  our  own  day. 
They  would  have  received  still  harsher  treatment,  but  for 
the  needs  of  Elizabeth's  furtive  diplomacy ;  and  she  told 
no  more  than  the  truth,  during  the  simulated  marriage 
negotiations  with  the  Archduke  Charles,  when  she  declared 
that  the  English  people  would  not  concede,  even  to  herself, 
the  establishment  of  a  Romish  Church  within  her  borders.1 
In  this  judgment  Martin  is  at  one  with  the  common  people ; 
he  has  no  liberty  for  the  Papist. 

(&)  THEIR  IDEAS  OF  LIBERTY  LIMITED  BY  FALSE  BIBLICAL 

1  State  Papers,  Venetian,  1567,  Nos.  368,  418. 


268  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

EXEGESIS. —  But  their  conception  of  liberty  was  marred 
by  two  other  causes  which  affected  the  'seekers  after 
reformation,'  and  are  reflected  in  the  pages  of  Martin  Mar- 
prelate.  First  was  their  literal  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures.  They  indulged  in  a  little  elementary  textual 
criticism,  and  protested  against  the  episcopal  use  of  a 
corrupt  Scripture  reading;  but  apart  from  this,  the  Bible 
from  cover  to  cover  was  to  them  an  infallible  revelation  of 
the  mind  of  God.  The  view  of  Whitgift  was  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  not  '  tied  to  any  one  certayne  kinde  of 
externall  gouernment ' ;  the  external  polity  is  not '  necessarie 
unto  the  saluation  of  the  Church.'  He  definitely  says,  '  it 
may  be  the  Churche  of  Christ,  without  this  or  that  kinde  of 
gouernment ' ;  that  is,  without  the  episcopacy,  which  on 
expedient  grounds  he  advocated.1  The  reforming  party,  on 
the  contrary,  held  that  the  apostolic  ministry  was  of  two 
kinds :  a  temporary  ministry,  as  of  the  apostles,  who 
possessed  the  power  of  working  miracles ;  and  a  permanent 
ministry,  consisting  of  pastors,  teachers,  elders,  and  deacons. 
From  a  misinterpreted  text  they  believed  that  this  order  of 
Church  government  must  remain  in  force  '  vntil  we  al  meet 
together  :  that  is  unto  the  ende  of  the  worlde.' 2  Looking 
back  at  this  old  controversy,  from  the  standpoint  of  our 
own  day,  we  are  disposed  to  say  that  Whitgift  ought  to 
have  found  a  divinely  ordained  and  immutable  order  of 
prelacy — bishop,  priest,  and  deacon — in  the  New  Testament ; 
and  Martin  ought  to  have  found  there  a  liberty  to  adopt  his 
apostolic  *  tetrarchy/  if  that  seemed  the  most  efficient  order  ; 
or  any  other  expedient  order  of  workers,  which  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  Church  and  the  time  seemed  to  demand.  And 
in  due  time  that  is  what  happened.  The  episcopalian 
prelates  of  the  next  age  entrenched  themselves  in  a  divinely 
ordained  episcopate,  with  the  subordinate  orders  of  priests 
and  deacons ;  finding  what  was  lacking  in  Scriptural 
support  and  apostolic  example,  in  the  history  and  example 
of  the  Church  in  later  centuries.  The  Nonconforming 

1  The  Defense  of  the  Answer  (1st  ed.),  81,  and  marg. 
2  THE  EPITOME,  sig.  B  iii. 


THE  TRACTS   AND   THEIR  AUTHOR      269 

Churches  of  that  age  found  in  the  apostolic  practice  an 
instruction ;  but  they  were  free  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
demands  of  the  circumstances  of  their  age  and  country ; 
and  they  have  to-day  the  same  authority  for  the  election  of 
a  Sunday  school  superintendent  as  for  the  election  of  a 
deacon.  The  only  restriction  laid  upon  them  was  due  to 
the  spiritual  character  of  the  human  society  which  consti- 
tuted the  Church.  In  the  days  of  Marprelate  men  saw 
clearly  that  the  warning  of  Christ  against  following  the 
example  of  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  lesson  of  the 
little  child  whom  He  placed  '  in  the  midst '  of  the  ambitious 
disciples,  prevented  them  from  assenting  to  diocesan 
bishops  or  any  form  of  prelacy.  One  was  their  Master, 
they  would  repeat,  and  they  all  were  brethren. 

Beyond  what  has  already  been  stated,  there  were  sub- 
sidiary forces  which  urged  both  parties  onward  along  their 
chosen  way ;  the  one  farther  away  from  democratic  liberty, 
the  other  ever  nearer  to  that  ideal.  Institutions,  especially 
when,  as  in  the  case  of  the  English  episcopate,  they  are 
associated  with  the  bestowal  of  emoluments  and  distinctions, 
tend  to  exist  for  their  own  sakes ;  to  discover  in  their  own 
welfare  the  reason  for  their  existence.  They  are  essentially 
unprogressive.  But  ideas  are  always  on  the  march,  and 
like  a  stream,  they  fine  as  they  flow.  These  contrasted 
processes  were  illustrated  in  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
episcopate  and  of  democratic  nonconformity.  One  con- 
spicuous advantage  the  '  seekers  after  reformation '  had  over 
their  opponents  in  the  quest  of  truth.  They  were  privileged 
to  suffer  for  their  ideas.  They  discovered  in  the  prison- 
house  the  futility  of  coercion.  It  was  a  truth  revealed  to 
the  earlier  martyrs.  '  I  perceive/  said  John  Rogers  to 
Stephen  Gardiner,  *  that  you  take  a  wrong  way,  with 
cruelty  to  persuade  men's  consciences.' *  This  is  the  beati- 
tude which  accompanies  persecution.  '  Imprisonments, 
indictments,  and  death,'  said  Penry,  '  are  no  proper  weapons 
to  convince  men's  consciences.' 2  And  Robert  Browne,  who 

1  Ads  and  Mon.  Foxe,  vi.  594. 

2  Exam,  of  Barruwc,  Greenwood  and  Penry,  28. 


2;o  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

suffered  abundantly  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him,  discovered 
not  only  that  force  was  futile,  but  that  it  was  an  express 
violation  of  the  foundation  principles  of  Christianity;  such 
mastery  as  it  allowed  sprang  from  ministry,  the  chief  among 
the  disciples  being  the  servant  of  all. 

(c)  POLITICAL  BACKWARDNESS  OF  THE  ADVANCED  ECCLESI- 
ASTICAL REFORMERS.  —  But  there  existed  another  main 
cause  for  the  truncated  view  of  religious  liberty  held  by 
the  reforming  evangelicals.  It  was  that,  politically,  they 
were  much  more  backward  in  their  ideas  than  they  were 
ecclesiastically.  They  were  true  patriots.  They  valued 
the  constitutional  liberties  which  former  generations  of 
Englishmen  had  gained,  more  than  they  were  valued  by 
any  other  class  in  the  community.  In  Parliament  theirs 
was  the  only  voice  heard  against  the  lawless  infringement 
of  these  liberties  by  Elizabeth.  In  their  controversy,  also, 
with  the  Bishops,  they  claimed  their  rights  as  freeborn 
Englishmen ;  men  to  whom  Magna  Charta  and  the  several 
lesser  enactments,  including  protecting  and  limiting  clauses 
of  otherwise  oppressive  statutes,  the  scant  harvest  of  genera- 
tions of  patriotic  struggles  for  freedom  against  princes  and 
priests,  were  a  precious  heritage.  But  they  had  not  denned 
and  set  limits  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  magistrate. 
They  protested  strongly  and  persistently  against  his  office 
being  invaded  by  the  priest.  They  knew  by  bitter  experi- 
ence, that  in  the  administration  of  the  law  there  was  more 
of  the  equity  and  compassion  of  the  Gospel  in  the  verdict 
of  the  layman  than  in  that  of  the  priest.  And  they  were 
ready  enough  to  take  up  Latimer's  contention,  that  the 
minister  had  enough  to  do  to  look  after  his  own  proper 
business.  Moreover,  while  they  recognised  that  both  the 
minister  and  the  magistrate  ultimately  derived  their 
authority  from  God,  they  saw  a  substantial  distinction 
between  their  two  offices ;  the  one  receiving  his  authority 
through  the  Church  and  the  other  through  the  State ;  the 
chief  office  of  the  one  being  to  preach  pardon  of  sins,  of 
the  other  to  '  bear  the  sword '  and  to  punish  '  evil  doers/ 
Yet  as  the  same  persons  were  subject  to  the  rule  of  the 


THE  TRACTS  AND   THEIR  AUTHOR      271 

cleric  and  the  magistrate,  it  is  not,  perhaps,  surprising  that 
the  early  Nonconformists  and  reformers  did  not  discriminate 
at  once  clearly  and  consistently  between  their  respective 
spheres  of  action.  In  particular,  they  did  not  resent  the 
intrusion  of  the  civil  magistrate  into  the  domain  of  con- 
science and  religious  liberty.  With  the  exception  of 
Browne  and  his  closest  followers,  they  would  have  regarded 
it  as  part  of  his  office  to  compel  attendance  at  a  place  of 
worship ;  but  they  were  painfully  perplexed  when  they 
fully  realised  that  the  hopes  of  further  reformation  were 
small,  and  that  they  themselves  were  to  be  compelled  to 
attend  a  '  maimed  '  church  and  a  half-popish  service.  And 
though  they  were  learning,  in  the  finest  of  all  schools,  the 
futility  of  coercing  the  conscience,  they  would  have  punished 
unitarianism  and  atheism,  the  denial  of  the  divinity  of 
Christ  and  of  God,  as  scandalous  crimes. 

(d)  THE  REFORMERS  THE  ONLY  RESISTERS  TO  CIVIL  AND 
ECCLESIASTICAL  OPPRESSION. — Still,  incomplete  though  their 
conception  of  liberty  was,  the  Marprelate  Tracts  are  a 
protest  against  persecution  and  therefore  a  plea  in  favour 
of  liberty,  as  well  civil  as  religious.  Hard  necessity  made 
the  persecuted  Nonconformists  appeal,  though  generally  in 
vain,  to  the  protection  of  the  law  of  the  land,  against  the 
personal  rule  of  Elizabeth  and  the  equally  obnoxious  canon 
law  of  the  Church.  Throughout  these  years  the  sovereign 
and  the  Bishops  were  conjoint  in  their  efforts  to  rob  the 
people  of  their  heritage  of  constitutional  liberty.  Elizabeth, 
James  and  Charles,  Whitgift,  Bancroft  and  Laud,  are  the 
great  traitors  against  English  freedom  during  the  century 
following  the  death  of  Mary  Tudor.  Mr.  Sidney  Lee  would 
justify  the  stern  and  oppressive  acts  of  Whitgift  by  the 
reflection  that  his  policy  was  the  means  of  firmly  estab- 
lishing the  Church  of  England  during  the  next  age.  The 
reply  is,  of  course,  that  if  the  Church  of  England  did  prosper 
by  Whitgift's  policy,  then  it  could  not  have  been,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  a  Christian  Church.  But  Mr.  Lee's  judg- 
ment is  contrary  to  historic  fact.  The  Church  was  so  far 
from  gaining  from  the  illegality,  the  severity,  and  the 


272  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

mechanical  rigidity  enforced  by  Whitgift's  Court  of  High 
Commission,  that  to  this  policy  may  be  attributed  the 
disasters  which  it  suffered  under  Laud  and  Charles  I.1 

It  is  with  these  serious  purposes  that  Martin  Marprelate 
is  concerned.  The  style,  whatever  literary  interest  it  may 
possess,  is  the  lure  to  secure  our  attention.  In  his  own 
judgment,  Martin's  style  is  justifiable  in  itself.  And 
knowing  his  Bishops,  he  deliberately  adopted  it ;  for  he 
meant,  notwithstanding  the  risk  of  purchasing  anti-episcopal 
literature,  that  the  people  should  read  what  he  had  to 
say.  We  may  dislike  the  free  use  of  the  word  '  beast,' 
which  came  from  the  familiar  use  of  the  Apocalypse,  that 
refuge  of  all  persecuted  Christian  peoples ;  and  a  few 
other  expressions.  But  almost  the  only  references  in 
Martin's  pages  to  which  we  object  seriously  are  the  refer- 
ences to  Bishop  Cooper's  wanton  wife.  It  is  true  that 
Cooper  was  an  arrant  persecutor,  one  of  the  severest  of  the 
time ;  that  he  treated  his  victims  without  consideration, 
railing  at  them  from  his  place  of  privilege.  It  is  also  true 
that  his  critics  were  denied  all  ordinary  means  of  expound- 
ing and  defending  their  views  in  the  face  of  deliberate 
misrepresentation ;  that  they  were  suffering  barbarous  ill- 
treatment  and  that  in  defiance  of  all  law.  But  with  all 
this  large  allowance,  the  references  to  Mrs.  Cooper's 
irregularities  are  entirely  to  be  regretted.  In  his  mis- 
fortune the  Bishop  was  much  to  be  pitied.  The  delin- 
quencies of  the  episcopacy  generally  were  a  different  matter. 
They  were  not  private  failings,  but  public  scandals.  They 
were  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  evangelisation  and  moral 
health  of  the  people,  and  tended  to  their  political  enslave- 
ment. And  it  will  be  clearly  seen  with  what  little  ground 
the  Marprelate  Tracts  have  been  denounced  as  seditious, 
heretical,  blasphemous,  and  scurrilous.  The  lawless  bar- 

1  '  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  these  [ecclesiastical]  courts  were  among 
the  most  efficient  causes  of  the  quarrel  between  the  monarchy  and  the  nation 
which  culminated  in  the  rebellion  of  1642.' — Prothero,  Select  Statutes  (1894), 
p.  xl.  '  The  triumph  of  Elizabeth  .  .  .  rendered  possible  the  revival  of  the 
Catholic  spirit  and  doctrine  under  Laud.  .  .  .  The  chief  difficulties  of  James 
and  Charles  were  the  direct  result  of  the  success  of  Elizabeth.' — R,  W,  Dale, 
Hist,  of  Eng.  Congregationalism,  82. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR  273 

barity  and  narrowness  of  Whitgift  is  what  now  stands  in 
need  of  a  reasoned  defence. 


Section  II. — The  Authorship  of  the  Tracts 

1.  The  Widespread  Interest  of  the  Inquiry. — There  is  no 
more  fascinating  problem  in  connection  with  the  literary 
and  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  than 
the  question  of  the  authorship  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts. 
Judged  from  any  standpoint,  the  writer  of  them  was  a 
notable  Englishman.  He  was  our  first  great  prose  satirist. 
He  was  a  writer  of  marked  individual  genius.  He  had  an 
easy  mastery  of  the  resources  of  our  language.  To  realise 
his  wit,  the  keenness  of  his  satire,  his  idiomatic  raciness,  we 
have  only  to  compare  him  with  the  professional  scribes 
hired  by  Bancroft  to  write  him  down.  Conscious  that 
their  defence  of  the  reverend  fathers  in  God  lacked  some- 
thing in  pith  and  point,  labouring  under  the  disadvantage 
from  which  all  mercenaries  suffer,  of  having  no  real  personal 
interest  in  the  conflict,  these  hired  penmen  sought  to  remedy 
their  defects  with  a  stock  of  offensively  indelicate  stories 
and  allusions.  But  their  best  paragraphs  are  those  which 
frankly  imitate  the  author  they  are  attacking ;  when  least 
original,  they  come  nearest  meriting  commendation.  Who, 
then,  is  this  dexterous,  original,  droll,  literary  artist ;  one 
who,  indeed,  with  equal  competence  can  be  grave  as  well 
as  gay ;  and  when  not  fantastically  gay,  half  hides,  and  no 
more,  his  deep  earnestness  of  purpose  ?  When  raising  the 
question,  ringing  in  our  ears  are  his  own  measured  words  : — 

I  am  alone.  No  man  under  heaven  is  privy,  or  hath  been 
privy  unto  my  writings  against  you.  I  used  the  advice  of  none 
therein.1 

That,  we  are  constrained  to  believe,  was  true  of  the  writer 
at  the  time  the  words  were  penned,  in  March  1589.  And 
yet  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  so  great  a  patriot,  so  brilliant 
a  master  of  English  prose,  so  earnest  a  religious  reformer, 

1  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  21. 

T 


274  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

could  be  altogether  hid  from  public  fame ;  even  had  not 
the  Bishops  through  their  pursuivants  turned  London  into 
a  whispering  gallery,  where  every  word  spoken  in  intimate 
chat  or  wayside  gossip  was  focused  in  the  Archbishop's 
chamber  at  Lambeth. 

2.  Two  Classes  of  Marprelate  Tracts. — It  will  assist  our 
inquiries  if  at  this  juncture  we  point  out  that  the  seven 
'  Martins '  fall  into  two  classes.  Four  are  primary  docu- 
ments, three  secondary. 

Primary.  Secondary. 

THE  EPISTLE.  THE  MINERALLS. 

THE  EPITOME.  THESES  MARTINIANAE. 

HAY  ANY  WORKE.  THE  JUST  CENSURE. 
PROTESTATYON. 

The  pamphlet  MORE  WORK  FOR  THE  COOPER,  seized  while 
being  printed  at  Manchester,  would  no  doubt  belong  to  the 
primary  division,  and  as  designed,  would  have  formed  a 
considerable  volume.  The  '  copy '  in  the  hands  of  the 
printers,  though  intended  to  be  published  as  a  separate 
pamphlet,  was  but  a  third  part  of  the  whole  work.  The 
Secondary  Tracts  were  interim  publications ;  curtain-raisers 
to  keep  the  audience  in  hand  until  the  greater  play  should 
occupy  the  stage.  Thus  there  was  a  delay  in  publishing 
HAY  ANY  WORKE  ;  Waldegrave's  assistant  fell  ill  while  the 
work  was  being  carried  on  at  Fawsley,  and  we  do  not  hear 
that  any  one  was  found  to  fill  his  place,  so  that  a  delay 
was  anticipated.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  delay  was 
extended  beyond  their  first  fears.  Sir  Richard  Knightley's 
messenger  was  sent  to  Coventry  to  get  a  copy  of  the  new 
'  Martin '  a  week  too  soon.  It  was  a  troublesome  pamphlet 
to  bind,  consisting  as  it  does  of  seven  half-sheets  and  a 
single  leaf.1  And  there  appears  to  have  been  a  delay  in 
getting  the  final  sheets  of  the  manuscript  of  most  of  the 
Tracts,  which  of  itself  might  suggest  a  common  origin. 
The  managers  of  the  press  deemed  it  wise  therefore  to  send 

1  The  last  sig.  is  H  1.     In  all  existing  copies,  even  those  merely  cased  in 
parchment,  the  last  leaf  is  pasted  to  the  preceding  sheet. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR   275 

forth  the  broadside  known  commonly  as  THE  MINERALLS. 
Penry  commended  it  to  Sharpe  '  as  a  pretty  thing  to  be  set 
out  before  the  other  Bookes.' 1  Again,  when  Hodgkins  took 
up  the  management  of  the  press,  the  intention  was  to  print 
forthwith  the  primary  tract,  MORE  WORK  FOR  THE  COOPER. 
Penry  had  hoped  that  Waldegrave  would  have  gone  '  in 
hand  with  More  Work  for  Cooper  and  further  sayd,'  as 
though  anticipating  its  appearance,  in  the  regular  succession 
of  the  three  quartos  already  published,  '  that  Waldegrave 
had  the  Dutch  letters  with  him.' 2  It  was  a  writing  upon 
which  some  pains  was  being  bestowed,  and  from  the  brief 
summary  account  given  of  it  in  the  PROTESTATYON,  would 
have  been  one  of  the  most  characteristic  and  popular  of  the 
Marprelate  series.  When,  however,  Hodgkins  and  his  two 
men  reached  the  Midlands,  Penry  was  unable  to  supply 
them  with  the  '  copy.'  Hence  the  appearance  of  THESES 
MARTINIANAE  as  an  interim,  to  occupy  the  printers,  to  stay 
the  immediate  demands  of  the  constituency,  and  to  keep 
the  Bishops  and  their  pursuivants  employed.  While  this 
was  being  printed  it  was  further  foreseen  that  the  manu- 
script of  MORE  WORK  would  not  be  ready  when  the  printers' 
hands  were  once  more  free ;  so  a  second  interim  was  hastily 
prepared.  It  followed  up  the  assumptions  of  the  previous 
tract.  That  was  alleged  to  have  been  edited  and  partly 
written  by  Martin  Junior,  and  became  known  by  that 
name.  This  was  therefore  entitled  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND 
REPROOFS  of  that  adventurous  youth,  by  his  elder  brother 
Martin,  Senior;  and  as  before,  became  known  commonly 
as  Martin  Senior.  While  it  was  being  set  up,  Hodgkins 
received  the  long-looked-for  '  copy '  of  MORE  WORK.  It 
was  not  the  manuscript  of  the  complete  tract,  but  of  a 
portion  only ;  in  length,  about  one-third  of  the  whole,  and 
consisting  of  the  '  Epistle,'  such  as  was  furnished  by  the 
writer  of  every  publication,  large  and  small,  of  those  years. 
It  was  expected  to  be  a  completion  of  HAY  ANY  WORKE  in 
some  respects.  '  Martin  Junior '  in  his  Epilogue  hopes  that 
the  missing  references  required  to  prove  the  Theses,  not 

1  Harl.  7042.  23  (q)  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  98.         2  Ibid,  (z)  ;  Sketch,  100. 


276  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

contained  in  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  which  gave  c  a  thirty  or 
forty '  of  them,  might  be  supplied  in  MORE  WORK.1  But 
there  is  no  attempt  to  supply  this  deficiency  in  the  interim 
pamphlets.  Moreover,  there  are  undoubted  differences 
between  the  two  classes,  differences  in  style  and  possibly  in 
matter,  which  we  must  presently  consider.  The  real  genius 
of  Martin  is  seen  in  the  primary  tracts.  Then  the 
unfinished  character  of  THESES  MARTINIANAE  forms  one 
of  the  greatest  of  our  difficulties  in  seeking  to  unravel 
the  mystery  surrounding  the  name  of  Martin  Marprelate. 

3.  Clues  in  the  Text. — Before  we  consider  more  closely 
the  two  names  left  on  our  hands  after  examining  the  various 
conjectures  which  have  been  presented  as  to  the  identity  of 
Martin  Marprelate,  we  must  note  certain  indirect  hints  or 
implications  contained  in  the  Tracts  themselves  as  to  their 
authorship. 

(a)  We   note   that   they  were  written  by  a  university 
graduate.       They     show     a     ready    familiarity     with     the 
dialectical  exercises  of  the  '  schools/  and  have  other  marks 
of    academic   learning.     Particularly,  there  is  a  reference 
to  the  study  of  Father  Bricot's  commentary  on  Aristotle 
at  Oxford.2 

(b)  The  legal    references   are   sufficiently  numerous   to 
indicate  a  writer  specially  trained  in  the  usages  and  forms 
of  the  law.     Thus  Martin  speaks  technically  of  an  action 
in    judicium    capitis ; 3    of    a    scandalum    magnatum ; 4    of 
summoning  parties  in  coram, 5  and  of  issuing  writs  premunire 
fades ; 6  he  explains  the  legal  points  which  forbid  an  action 
being  taken  against  him  under  the  statute  1 3  Eliz. ; 7  he 
also  frequently  quotes  the  statutes  at  large.8 

(c)  The  writer  is  thoroughly  familiar  with   theological 
and  ecclesiastical  subjects.     Quotations  are  needless ;  such 
matters  are  discussed  throughout  the  series. 

(d)  There  is  a  hint  at  the  writer's  social  position,  when 
he  denies  that  he  has  any  designs  on  the  emoluments  of  the 

1  THESES  MART.  sig.  C  iv.  2  THE  EPISTLE,  11. 

3  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  24.          4  THE  EPISTLE,  23.          6  Ibid.  14. 

6  Ibid.  21,  22,  26,  32  ;  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  37. 
7  THE  EPISTLE,  38.  8  PROTESTATYON,  23 


THE  TRACTS   AND  THEIR  AUTHOR      277 

Bishops,  having,  he  says,  a  patrimony  of  his  own  which  he 
finds  sufficient. 

(e)  It  is  also  not  without  considerable  importance  that 
he  says,  referring  to  Bancroft's  reference  to  his  supposed 
wife,  that  he  is  not  married,  though  he  will  not  say  but 
that  presently  he  may  be.1 

The  question  now  presents  itself,  whether,  among  the 
men  we  know  in  connection  with  the  Tracts,  or  among  the 
sympathisers  with  their  object,  and  with  the  cause  of 
evangelical  reform  generally,  there  is  any  one  who  could 
have  written  these  satires  and  who  possessed  the  qualifica- 
tions indicated  above.  We  see  he  must  be  a  '  scholar  of 
Oxford/  a  lawyer,  a  theologian,  a  gentleman  of  means,  and 
a  bachelor  meditating  marriage. 

4.  Persons  suspected. — We  now  turn  to  the  persons  who 
have  fallen  under  the  suspicion  of  being  Martin.  One 
name  only  is  a  fresh  suggestion  of  modern  times ;  the 
others  were  suggestions  made  by  contemporaries  of  the 
events  connected  with  the  writing  of  the  Tracts.  Not  that 
the  first  crop  of  suspicions,  wild  premature  guesses  of  a 
scandalised  prelacy,  were  of  great  importance.  They  were 
but  the  radical  leaf  thrust  early  through  the  soil,  giving 
no  hint  of  the  form  and  character  of  the  foliage  which 
should  later  appear. 

(1)  JOHN  UDALL. — The  fact,  early  discovered,  that  the 
secret  press  had  been  active  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Kingston-on-Thames,  made  it  inevitable  that  in  their  panic 
the  suspicions  of  the  Bishops  should  light  upon  Udall.  He 
was  already  suspected  of  writing  the  anti-episcopal  dialogue 
commonly  known  as  Diotrephes,  and  the  Demonstration  of 
Discipline,  with  its  yet  fiercer  denunciations  in  the  same 
vein.  He  was  then  residing,  and  had  till  the  preceding 
June  been  a  minister,  at  Kingston.  He  was,  moreover,  a 
man  with  a  special  grievance  which  connected  him  with 
THE  EPISTLE.  Two  years  earlier  he  had  come  into  collision 
with  Dr.  Cottington,  Archdeacon  of  Surrey.2  He  had 

1  PROTEST ATYON,  15,  32.     See  below,  p.  306  f. 

2  MS.  Chron.  (Dr.  Williams'  Lib.)  ii.  591  (4). 


2/8  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

arranged  for  a  fast  to  be  observed  in  his  parish,  and  this 
the  Archdeacon  had  inhibited.  The  quarrel  had  continued 
till  the  previous  June,  when  Dr.  Hone,  the  '  official '  of 
the  Archdeacon,  carried  out  a  sentence  of  deprivation 
against  UdalL  The  action  of  '  duns  Cottington,'  who  is  a 
'bankerout,'  and  of  Hone  his  'journeyman,  a  popish  doctor 
of  the  baudy  court,'  is  strenuously  denounced  in  THE  EpiSTLE.1 
Later,  on  a  more  careful  consideration  of  the  evidence,  it 
was  discerned  that  Udall  was  not  Martin.  He  himself 
disavowed  the  authorship ;  especially  expressed  his  dislike 
of  Martin's  jocularity ;  and  there  is  little  room  to  doubt 
that  Whitgift  accepted  his  disavowal,  even  after  Stephen 
Chatfield  told  the  story  of  the  compromising  notes  he  had 
seen  in  Udall's  study  and  the  threatening  words  used  by 
him,  when  he  and  Chatfield  were  together  in  a  field  near 
Kingston.  Udall  might  have  escaped  the  mockery  of  the 
death  sentence  on  the  ground  of  sedition,  and  the  long 
years  of  barbarous  imprisonment  from  which  at  last  he 
died,  but  for  Whitgift's  conviction  that  he  knew,  but  would 
not  divulge,  the  authorship  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts.  That 
was  his  real  offence. 

The  Archbishop  could  not  clear  his  mind  from  the  sus- 
picion that  the  principal  Puritan  ministers  were  in  the 
secret  of  the  authorship.  For  this  reason,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  followed  Cartwright  with  his  unrelenting  persecution; 
not  because  of  the  old  Admonition  controversy,  but  because 
Cartwright  'knew,  or  had  credibly  heard,  who  were  the 
authors,  printers  or  the  dispensers  of  Martin  MarPrelate!  2 
Udall  protested  that,  although  he  had  been  inquisitive,  he 
had  not  succeeded  in  penetrating  the  secret.  At  the  same 
time  he  is  reported  to  have  said  that  the  writings  of  Mar- 
prelate  '  were  never  approved  by  the  godly  Learned.'  c  I 
am  fully  persuaded,'  he  said,  'those  Bookes  were  not  done 
by  any  minister.  And  I  do  think  there  is  no  Minister  in 
this  land  doth  know  who  Martin  is.'3  Although  to-day 

1  Op.  tit.  34-36. 

2  Fuller,  Ch.  Hist.  in.  bk.  ix.  p.  200  (ed.  1655).     See  ante,  p.  218. 

3  A  New  Discoverie  (1643),  324.     MS.  Hemarks  on  Hist.  (Dr.  Williams' 
Lib.)  407.     The  words  quoted  are  from  Udall's  examination  before  Puckering. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR  279 

we  have  no  difficulty  in  concluding  that  neither  Udall  nor 
Cartwright,  both  of  them  to  be  reckoned  among  '  the  godly 
Learned/ l  could  have  penned  the  jocose  badinage ;  that 
neither  of  them  was  capable  of  such  literary  pranks ;  yet 
the  evidence  of  Stephen  Chatfield  did  appear  prima  fade 
to  seriously  compromise  Udall.  Chatfield  saw  in  his  pos- 
session certain  papers,  which,  from  a  hasty  perusal  of  their 
titles,  he  judged  to  be  of  the  same  character  as  '  this 
scandalous  Libell '  [i.e.  THE  EPISTLE].  The  witness  was 
told  that  they  had  been  sent  by  '  a  friend '  of  UdalTs ;  from 
another  remark  he  assumed  the  friend  to  be  John  Field, 
the  conjoint  author  of  the  Admonition  to  Parliament,  who 
died  early  in  1588.  In  the  Puckering  Brief  it  is  stated 
that  Udall  had  made  a  *  collection '  of  '  some  things  that 
are  conteyned  in  that  Booke '  [THE  EPISTLE],  which  he 
acknowledged  to  have  shown  to  Field  and  Chatfield.2 
How  much  this  statement  of  the  prosecuting  attorney 
amounts  to,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  A  large  number 
of  the  victims  of  ecclesiastical  persecution  had  probably 
made  '  Collections  '' ;  recording  the  misdeeds  of  the  Bishops ; 
the  bad  treatment  of  his  prisoners  by  Whitgift ;  the  greed 
and  worldliness  of  Aylmer ;  the  story  of  Young  and  the 
plunder  of  church  property ;  the  scandal  of  Marmaduke 
Miller  and  his  two  wives ;  the  gauche  eccentricity  of 
Bullingham  in  the  pulpit.  Field  and  Udall  had  no  doubt 
recorded  their  own  grievances  in  their  respective  '  Collec- 
tions.' These  ana  were  collected  together  in  a  later  genera- 
tion by  Sir  John  Harington  in  his  Briefe  View  of  the  State 
of  the  Church,  written  for  the  edification  of  the  young 
Stuart  prince  Henry.3  The  stories  were  to  a  large  extent 
the  common  property  of  the  time.  Udall,  we  may  be  sure, 
narrated  his  sorrows  to  many  a  sympathetic  audience ;  to 

1  Sutcliffe's  description  of  Udall  as  an  c  utterly  unlearned  man '  reveals 
the  density  of  his  prejudice.     An  Answere  to  a  Libel,  cap.  iii. 

2  Harl.  MSS.  7042.  4.     Arber's  Sketch,  122. 

3  '  Written  For  the  private  use  of  Prince  Henry  upon  occasion  of  that 
proverb, — 

Henry  the  eighth  pull'd  down  Monks  and  their  Cells, 
Henry  the  Ninth  should  pull  down  Bishops  and  their  Bells.' 

Title-page.     Published  1653. 


280  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

the  Hortons  at  Richmond ;  to  the  Tyes  at  Kingston  ;  at 
Field's  house  in  Grub  Street ;  and  at  Mrs.  Crane's  in 
Aldermary,  where  the  evangelical  reformers  found  always  a 
home.  Mrs.  Crane's  servant  Nicholas  Tomkins  saw  Udall's 
memorandum- book,  containing  a  list  of  the  writings  whose 
authorship  he  acknowledged.  Udall's  friends  Penry  and 
Giles  Wigginton  would  know  all  about  his  wrongs.  The 
ill-treatment  which  he  conceived  himself  to  have  suffered 
at  the  hands  of  Dr.  Hone  was  no  secret  confined  to  the 
pages  of  his  '  Collections.'  But  that  he  did  not  write  the 
account  which  appeared  in  the  pages  of  THE  EPISTLE,  both 
his  strong  denial  and  the  general  character  of  the  man  and 
of  his  undoubted  writings  are  a  sufficient  testimony. 

(2)  GILES  WIGGINTON  appears  to  have  been  the  man 
first  suspected  by  Whitgift.  Wigginton  had  no  special 
reason  for  speaking  favourably  of  the  Archbishop,  as  we 
know  from  the  earlier  history  of  the  two  men  at  Trinity 
College.  But  the  enmity  did  not  cease  when  they  left  the 
walls  of  the  college.  Whitgift  had  a  way  of  pursuing  his 
old  antagonists,  if  they  were  such  as  had  deliberately  and 
strongly  opposed  him,  year  after  year,  until  they  were 
utterly  undone.  As  soon  as  Whitgift  went  to  Canterbury, 
Wigginton  went  to  prison.  The  elevation  of  the  one  was 
the  deprivation  of  the  other.  It  was  during  one  of  the 
intervals  between  Wigginton's  successive  imprisonments 
that  THE  EPISTLE  appeared.  This  is  none  other  than  Giles 
Wigginton,  thought  the  Archbishop,  as  he  read  Marprelate's 
first  pamphlet,  and  saw  the  contemptuously  familiar  way  in 
which  he  himself  was  bantered  in  the  pages  of  that  lively 
tract.  For  Wigginton  also  was  a  wit ;  he  could  even  turn 
the  Court  of  High  Commission  to  laughter.  We  see  some- 
thing of  his  quality  in  his  satirical  '  Articles  of  Visitation.' l 
Besides  it  was  well  known  that  Wigginton  was  not  of  that 
grave  and  solemn-sided  section  of  the  reformers,  that  believed 
there  was  nothing  to  be  done,  in  the  cruel  exigencies  of 
the  day,  but  to  pepper  the  Bishops  with  sacred  texts  and 
to  stretch  them  on  the  rack  of  a  formal  syllogism.  At 
1  See  Trans.  Congl.  Hist.  Soc.  vol.  iii.  p.  27. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR      281 

the  close  of  the  record  of  '  the  whole  Processe  of  J[ohn] 
Canterbury]  with  G.  Wfigginton]  the  6.  day  of  December 
Anno  Dom.  1588,'  the  occasion  on  which  he  was  examined 
about  the  first  two  '  Martins/  the  stout  old  reformer  wrote — 

All  that  which  goeth  before  is  true,  witness  I,  Giles  Wiggin- 
ton,  Pastor  of  Sedborough ;  by  this  token,  that  I  do  like  well  of 
M.  Marprelate,  nothing  doubting  but  God  will  bless  them  and 
all  other  such  good  proceedings.  Amen.1 

But  in  the  same  examination  Wigginton  said, '  I  did  neither 
make,  write,  nor  print  it,  nor  any  part  of  it,  nor  see  any 
part  of  it  written  before  it  was  printed.' 2  And  as  a 
fact,  the  suspicion  against  him  soon  died  out.  Whitgift 
recognised  that  he  was  on  a  false  scent. 

(3)  FRANCIS  MERBURY. — It  seems  certain  that  Nicholas 
Tomkins,  Mrs.  Crane's  servant,  did  not  know  who  was  the 
writer  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts.  Equally  certain  is  it  that 
he  had  no  wish  to  divulge  more  than  he  could  help.  His 
first  coDcern  was  to  shield  his  mistress,  and  therefore  we 
find  him,  while  professing  not  to  know,  yet  hinting,  that 
the  first  tract,  THE  EPISTLE,  was  printed  not  at  his  mistress's 
house  at  East  Molesey,  but  in  Northamptonshire.  That  he 
knew  more  than  he  chose  to  divulge,  we  may  conclude 
from  his  being  sent  'beyond  sea.'3  We  do  not  read  of 
Mrs.  Crane  being  imprisoned  for  harbouring  the  Marprelate 
Press  at  Molesey,  or  for  making  her  house  in  Aldermary  a 
refuge  and  meeting-place  for  the  leaders  of  the  Noncon- 
formist movement.  And  it  is  certainly  not  like  Whitgift 
to  allow  one  so  deeply  concerned  in  these  matters  to  escape 
altogether.  It  may  have  been  that  the  further  evidence 
which  Tomkins  could  have  supplied  was  needed  to  furnish 
her  indictment.  But  in  his  examination  in  Feb.  1589  it 
is  interesting  to  hear  Tomkins  repeat  who  were  the  persons 
suspected  of  being  Martin  within  the  intimate  reforming 
circle  to  which  he  had  access.  He  had  heard  '  some  name 
Master  Field,  some  Master  Wigginton,  others  Master  Penry, 

1  Second  Parte  of  a  Register  (MS.  Dr.  Williams'  Lib.),  849. 
2  Ibid.  844.  3  July  1590>     Nealj  msL  Oj-the  Pur>  f   4Q9 


282  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

others  Master  Marbury,  a  preacher,  to  be  the  author  of 
[the  two  Tracts  at  this  time  circulated].'  Francis  Merbury 
(or  Marbury,  which  represents  the  current  pronunciation) 
was  at  one  time  a  minister  at  Northampton,  but  had  been 
deprived.  He  suffered  many  terms  of  imprisonment ;  nor 
was  the  rigour  of  his  persecution  likely  to  be  mitigated  by 
the  speech  he  used  before  his  clerical  judges.  Aylmer  in 
examining  him  on  Nov.  5th,  1578,  quite  lost  his  temper, 
and  railed  at  his  prisoner.  *  Thou  art  a  very  ass,  an  idiot, 
and  a  fool/  said  the  irate  Bishop.  '  Where,'  he  went  on  to 
ask,  '  would  be  found  the  living,  if  they  supplied  every 
parish  with  a  preacher  ? ' — forgetful  of  the  many  livings 
which  he  and  other  bishops  had  annexed  as  '  cominendams.' 
Merbury  boldly  replied,  '  A  man  might  cut  a  large  thong 
out  of  your  hide,  and  that  of  other  prelates,  and  it  would 
never  be  missed.' l  But  it  was  in  Nonconforming  circles 
only  that  Merbury's  name  was  mentioned.  He  could  not 
on  careful  consideration  be  long  suspected  to  be  Martin. 
He  was  a  man  of  strong  and  resolute  views,  and  of  tren- 
chant speech ;  but  his  was  not  Martin's  style. 

(4)  JOHN  FIELD,  of  Aldermary,  Mrs.  Crane's  parish  and 
a  centre  of  the  reforming  movement,  died  in  Feb.  1588, 
before  the  appearance  of  the  first  Marprelate  Tract.  He 
was  a  leading  personality  among  his  party,  and  early  in  his 
public  career  found  himself  in  difficulties  with  the  Bishops. 
In  the  beginning  of  1571-2  we  find  him  complaining  that 
he  is  forced  for  a  living  to  teach  children,  having  been 
deprived  of  his  cure  at  Aldermary.  In  the  spring  of  the 
same  year  he  was  appointed,  along  with  Wilcox,  to  draw  up 
the  celebrated  Admonition  to  Parliament ;  and,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  in  consequence  cast  into  prison.  It  was 
strange,  even  in  those  days,  that  men  should  be  imprisoned 
for  the  highly  constitutional  act  of  petitioning  Parliament 
to  amend  an  evil  law.  Nevertheless  for  this  offence  he 
was  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprisonment ;  and  even  at  the 
expiration  of  his  term,  such  was  the  lawlessness  which 
marked  all  ecclesiastical  prosecutions,  that  only  after  delay 

1  Parte  of  a  Register,  385. 


THE  TRACTS  AND   THEIR  AUTHOR      283 

and  difficulty  were  his  pitiful  petitions  heard,  and  he 
obtained  his  discharge.  If  its  possession  were  a  qualifica- 
tion for  writing  Martin  Marprelate's  EPISTLE  or  EPITOME, 
John  Field  had  a  substantial  grievance  against  the  pre- 
lates. When  Penry  was  in  Northampton,  having  with  him 
the  printed  proofs  of  THE  EPISTLE,  Henry  Sharpe,  the  book- 
binder, was  very  inquisitive  to  know  its  author.  Penry 
told  him  that  '  some  such  notes  were  found  in  Master 
Field's  study ;  that  Master  Field  upon  his  death  bed  willed 
they  should  be  burnt,  and  repented  for  collecting  them/ l 
The  answer  was  doubtless  an  evasion.  Field  and  Udall  had 
their  '  collections '  of  the  oppressive  and  scandalous  acts  of 
the  Bishops ;  and  it  is  possible  that  one  or  both  of  these 
adversaria  may  have  furnished  material  for  Martin's  use. 
But  beyond  that  we  cannot  go.  Field  was  a  good  scholar, 
the  master  of  a  clear,  incisive  style,  a  convinced  reformer ; 
but  there  is  nothing  in  his  letters,  nothing  in  the  Admoni- 
tion, which  supports  the  hypothesis  that  he  was  Martin. 
The  man  who  supplies  the  timber  is  not  necessarily  the 
designer  and  builder  of  the  house.  And  the  death  of 
John  Field  precludes  the  possibility  of  associating  his  name 
with  the  development  of  the  controversy. 

(5)  EUSEBIUS  PAGIT. — We  learn  from  the  last  of  the 
black-letter  tracts,  HAY  ANY  WORKE  FOR  COOPER,  that  the 
Bishops  suspected  '  Master  Pagit,  Master  Udall,  and  Master 
Penry.' 2  The  suggestion  that  Eusebius  Pagit  was  the 
secret  author  could  never  have  been  seriously  held  by 
many  persons.  A  brief  account  of  this  very  unfortunate 
reforming  minister  will  be  found  in  a  note  to  THE  EPISTLE.3 
He  seems  to  have  been  marked  out  as  a  special  butt  for  the 
gibes  of  the  antimartinist  writers ;  though  they  had  no  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  him,  or  they  would  not  have  called  him 
halt  and  club-footed,  whereas  it  was  his  arm  that  was  '  lame.' 
All  that  can  be  said  in  support  of  the  suspicion  is  that  Pagit 
was  a  man  of  some  original  ability ;  also  that  he  had  been 
exceptionally  badly  treated  by  the  Bishops.  But  there  is 

1  Sharpe's  evidence.     Harl.  MSS.  7042.  23  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  94. 
2  Op.  tit.  21.  3  Op.  tit.  38. 


284  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

nothing  in  his  career  to  tempt  us  to  consider  further  the 
possibility  of  his  being  the  '  great  unknown/ 

(6)  JOHN  PENRY. — In  the  speech  put  into   the  Arch- 
bishop's mouth  in  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  he  is  made  to  say  to 
his  pursuivants, '  Haue  you  diligently  soght  mee  out  Walde- 
graue  the  Printer ;  Newman  the  cobler  ;  Sharpe,  the  booke- 
binder  of  Northampton,  and  that  seditious  Welchman,  Penry, 
who   you   shall   see,  will   prone   the   Author   of  all   these 
libells  ? ' 1       It    is    difficult   to  account   for   the   audacious 
mention  of  these   names   by  Martin  at  the  close  of  July 
1589.     We    must    assume    that    the    men    thus  daringly 
named  were  already  widely  sought  for  by  the  pursuivants ; 
the  mention  of  them  could  not  put  them  in  a  worse  case ; 
while  it  might  weaken  the  suspicion  existing  against  them. 
Nobody  would  believe  that  Martin  was  willingly  betraying 
his  real  confederates.     However  that  may  be,  John  Penry 
was  soon  to  be,  and  for  some  time  chiefly,  the  person  sus- 
pected by  Whitgift,  and  it  will   be  necessary  to  examine 
fully  the  evidence  alleged  against  him.     His  close  personal 
connection  with   the   production   of  the  Tracts   is   not   in 
question.      If  he  was  not  Martin,  he   was   the   man  most 
likely  to  have  known  the  secret  of  his  identity ;  if,  indeed, 
any  second  person  knew  that  secret.     The  evidence  for  and 
against  believing  Penry  to  be  Martin  we   shall  presently 
consider. 

(7)  JOB  THROKMORTON. — So  far,  no  one  has  named  the 
'squire  of  Haseley  as  the   probable   author.     A  couple  of 
years  earlier,  we  find  him  addressing  a  very  humble  petition 
to   Burleigh,2   to  help   him  to  regain  the  goodwill  of  the 
Queen,    which    he    had    lost    through    a    fault    which    he 
confesses    '  wth    sorrow  of  harte.'       He    realises  that   '  th' 
indignation    of    the    Prince    is    death/   and    sees   that   his 
trouble  is  '  a  juste  Judgem*  of  God  on  his  impenitent  life  ' ; 
but   he  urges  that  it  is  his  first   fault  of  '  such  a  nature ' 
and  partly  ascribes  it  to  '  the  priviledge  of  the  place/  which 
was  '  apte   to   bring   a    youwg  heade  into  distemperature. 
The  clue  to  these  somewhat  obscure  phrases  we  find  in  the 

1  Op.  tit.  A  ii.  vers.  2  Fid.  ante,  p.  216. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR      285 

clerical  endorsement  of  the  petition:  '3  Aprill  1587  Job 
Throgmorto  grief  for  ye  1.  offence  He  with  Penry  and  Udal 
had  wrote  scurilous  books  against  ye  established  religion.' 
This  at  once  explains  the  document.  Penry's  Aeguity 
had  been  presented  to  Parliament  'holden  by  prorogation 
in  the  29.  yere  of  her  Maiesties  raigne.' l  This  Parliament 
was  resumed  on  Feb.  15,  1587,  and  prorogued  on  the 
23rd  of  March  following.  The  Parliament,  which  was 
strongly  favourable  to  the  reformers,  '  shewed  no  disliking 
thereof/  says  Penry.  And  among  those  who,  no  doubt, 
spoke  in  its  favour  was  Throkmorton ;  who,  when  he  saw 
Penry  cast  into  prison,  was  forward  to  seek  the  great 
minister's  help  to  shield  him  from  the  like  fate.  But  so 
carefully  had  he  since  avoided  giving  any  clue  to  the 
informer  and  pursuivant,  that  not  until  the  complete 
external  evidence  of  the  production  of  the  Tracts  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  High  Commission,  did  his  place  in  their 
story  assume  a  commanding  significance.  Little  by  little 
the  fact  dawned  upon  the  authorities  that,  whether  alone, 
or  in  concert  with  others,  he  was  a  principal  figure  in  the 
daring  activity  of  the  wandering  press.  When,  later,  they 
were  able  to  view  the  evidence  in  a  truer  perspective  and 
to  liberate  themselves  from  the  preconception  that  obsessed 
the  mind  of  Whitgift — that  the  chief  author  (or  authors) 
must  be  sought  among  '  the  preachers,'  although  in  the 
beginning  of  his  inquiries  he  was  more  than  once  told  by 
men  more  likely  to  know  the  truth  than  himself,  that 
Martin  was  '  no  minister ' — then,  the  probability  that  Job 
Throkmorton  was  the  veritable  Martin  Marprelate  over- 
shadowed all  other  speculations  on  the  subject.  The  last 
word  of  Sutcliffe,  the  episcopal  advocate,  whose  Answere  to 
Job  Throkmorton,  published  in  1595,  closed  the  contem- 
porary controversy,  is,  that  there  were  probably  several 
persons  concerned ;  but  in  his  view  chief  among  them  was 
Throkmorton.  Sutcliffe  is  neither  so  free  from  violent 
partisan  prejudice,  nor  from  error  in  matters  of  fact, 
that  we  can  unhesitatingly  accept  his  conclusion.  But 

1  Penry 'a  Appellation.     See  Arber's  Sketch,  68. 


286  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

his  final  judgment  is  not  without  weight.  The  evi- 
dence, however,  in  the  case  of  Throkmorton  and  Penry 
is  so  interwoven  that  their  names  must  be  considered 
together. 

(8)  The  only  other  name  to  be  added  to  this  list  is  the 
recent  suggestion  of  Dr.  H.  M.  Dexter  that  HENRY  BARROWE 

oo 

was  Martin.1  Dr.  Dexter  does  not  touch  the  hypothesis 
that  Throkmorton  was  the  author;  but  he  carefully 
examines  the  evidence  in  support  of  the  Penry  theory,  and 
concludes  strongly  against  it.  What  he  has  to  say  in 
favour  of  assigning  the  authorship  to  Barrowe  is  not  with- 
out weight ;  or  it  could  never  have  commended  itself  to  so 
acute  a  mind  as  Dr.  Dexter's.  The  things  left  unsaid, 
overlooked,  and  largely  unknown  at  the  stage  of  the  con- 
troversy at  which  Dr.  Dexter  left  it,  firmly  convince  us 
that  he  was  wrong.  He  was  not  in  possession  of  the  true 
story  of  the  production  of  THE  Tracts ;  he  places  THE  PRO 
TESTATYON  as  the  fifth  in  the  Marprelate  series  ;  knew 
nothing  apparently  of  the  intimate  connection  of  Throk- 
morton with  the  enterprise  as  revealed  in  the  evidence  of 
Symms  and  Thomlyn  before  Lord  Chancellor  Hatton. 
Moreover,  his  speculations  in  other  directions  show  that  the 
evidence  which  this  able  and  laborious  student  succeeded  in 
accumulating,  was  not  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  unravel 
entirely  the  skein  of  controversy  during  this  period.  For 
example,  Greenwood  certainly  did  not  write  alone,  or  with 
the  aid  of  Barrowe,  M.  Some  in  his  Coulers ;  although  it 
bears  the  undeciphered  initials  I.  G-.  NOT  did  Barrowe 
write  the  fine  pamphlet,  A  Petition  directed  to  her  Majesty. 
He  wrote  and  studied  much  in  prison,  though  his  study  was 
chiefly  bestowed  upon  the  Bible  itself.  Any  one,  however, 
who  examines  the  structure  of  the  Petition,  and  its  wealth 
of  minute  and  precise  theological  learning,  will  probably 
agree  with  us,  that  had  Barrowe,  instead  of  a  careless  '  man 
about  town/  been  a  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity  before 
his  conversion  and  his  almost  immediate  imprisonment  in 

1  Dr.    Dexter   supplied   Prof.    Arber   with    a    concise   statement  of  the 
grounds  on  which  he  based  his  speculation.     See  the  Sketch,  187  et  seq. 


THE  TRACTS  AND   THEIR  AUTHOR      287 

the  Fleet,  he  could  not  even  then  have  written  such  a  work 
in  prison.1 

We  must  acknowledge  that  Barrowe  was  able,  while  in 
prison,  to  take  a  vigorous  part  in  the  ecclesiastical  contro- 
versies of  the  day.  We  know  that  his  view  of  the  character 
of  Whitgift  closely  coincides  with  Marprelate's  view.  More- 
over, those  who  have  read  the  writings  of  this  remarkable 
man,  whose  entire  professed  Christian  life  was  spent  in 
prison,  will  not  need  to  be  told  that  few  men  of  his  age, 
could  write  more  forcefully,  with  more  wit  and  incisiveness, 
of  the  lawless  oppression  of  the  Elizabethan  Bishops.  Nor 
was  there  ever  a  more  courageous  man ;  one  who  in  speech 
and  action  reckoned  less  with  '  flesh  and  blood.'  We  recog- 
nise in  him,  as  in  the  writer  of  the  Tracts,  a  man  conscious 
of  his  social  superiority  to  Whitgift  and  the  mushroom  men 
who  surrounded  that  prelate  and  lived  on  his  favour. 
These  all  carried  into  later  life  the  petty  meannesses  of 
their  upbringing  and  their  servile  crawling  into  office  and 
favour.  Barrowe  and  '  Martin  '  came  from  a  different  rank, 
and  were  Englishmen  of  a  finer  breeding.  It  is  also  true 
that  in  the  Tracts  there  are  traces  of  a  legal  mind,  and 
Henry  Barrowe  was  a  member  of  Gray's  Inn.  And 
assuredly  it  would  be  a  picturesque  conjunction  of  men 
and  circumstances,  to  find  the  origin  of  these  witty  and 
satirical  libelli  in  the  Fleet  Prison ;  Job  Throkmorton  being 
the  conveyer  of  the  copy,  Penry  the  publisher,  Waldegrave 

1  The  interpretation  of  the  famous  text,  'Tell  it  to  the  Church,'  by  the 
writer  of  A  Petition  directed,  etc.,  is  decisive  on  this  point.  Three  views 
were  current.  That  of  the  established  order  of  worship  was  '  Tell  it  to  the 
Bishop,  or  to  the  Minister  in  charge  of  the  cure.'  That  of  the  most  moderate 
— the  least  progressive — of  the  Reformers  was,  'Tell  it  to  the  Elders,'  for 
they  are  chosen  representatives  of  the  Church.  This  was  the  view  of  the 
writer  of  A  Petition.  But  the  views  of  Barrowe,  like  those  of  Robert 
Browne,  would  allow  of  no  such  eviscerating  of  the  text.  He  would  have 
told  the  Episcopalians,  that  they  had  no  such  church,  or  body  of  Christian 
believers,  to  whom  the  aggrieved  person,  contemplated  by  Christ  in  his 
address,  could  tell  his  wrong  and  obtain  redress.  To  the  Presbyterian  he 
would  have  probably  objected  that  his  interpretation  as  effectively  took 
away  the  prerogative  of  the  Christian  community  as  did  the  interpretation 
of  the  Episcopalian.  To  both  he  would  probably  have  said,  that  they 
were  taking  unwarrantable  liberties  with  the  precise  and  definite  words  of 
Christ, 


288  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

and  Hodgkins  the  printers.  Dr.  Dexter's  suggestion  is  a 
strong  one  and  we  could  almost  wish  it  were  true.  Never- 
theless it  is  not  possible  to  accept  it.  Of  Barrowe's  actual 
connection  with  Marprelacy  not  a  trace  has  been  discovered. 
In  the  minute  story  of  the  production  of  the  Tracts,  already 
given,  not  a  detail  points  to  a  cell  in  the  Fleet.  The  form 
in  which  the  writings  have  come  to  us  does  not  hint  a 
prison  origin ;  unless  the  imperfection  of  the  secondary 
tract  THESES  MARTINIANAE  be  considered  a  suggestion  in 
that  direction ;  as  implying  an  absent  author  in  limbo,  who 
could  not  be  consulted  by  the  printers  in  regard  to  certain 
incomplete  sentences  in  the  text. 

We  are  conscious  of  a  difference  between  these  two  men 
which  makes  itself  known  in  their  respective  views  and 
writings.  So  that  while  we  recognise  that  both  use  strong 
idiomatic  speech,  having  little  in  common  with  the  dilet- 
tante euphuism  of  the  time  ;  though  the  writings  of  both  men 
are  flavoured  with  the  culture  of  the  schools  of  learning , 
yet  we  must  also  recognise  that  the  sharp  satire  and  wit  of 
Barrowe,  written  as  though  he  were  unconscious  of  the 
literary  character  of  his  eager  and  earnest  pages,  differs 
from  that  quite  special  type  of  wit,  and  especially  of  irony, 
which  distinguishes  Martin  Marprelate  from  all  his  con- 
temporaries. '  Martin '  is  by  no  means  unconscious  of  the 
character  of  his  figures  and  inversions  and  drolleries.  He 
indulges  in  swordplay  before  he  delivers  his  fatal  thrust. 
But  who  could  imagine  Henry  Barrowe  writing  the  rustic 
dialect  in  which  Martin  freakishly  delivers  a  blow,  in  the 
guise  of  an  unsophisticated  yokel?  And  it  is  time  to 
mention  an  objection  to  Dr.  Dexter's  hypothesis  which  is 
really  fatal.  The  ecclesiastical  standpoint  of  THE  EPISTLE 
and  THE  EPITOME  is  not  that  of  A  Brief e  Discovery  of  a 
false  church.  In  making  out  '  Martin's '  point  of  view  it  is 
necessary  on  the  one  hand  to  note  that  he  differs  not  only 
in  temper,  but  also  in  intellectual  conviction,  from  such 
men  as  Travers,  Field,  Cartwright,  Udall,  and  their  fellows. 
'  Martin '  champions  their  cause ;  but  he  is  not  altogether 
of  their  party.  In  his  breadth  of  sympathy,  his  theological 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR      289 

temper,  his  deep  humanity,  he  is  more  akin  to  the  author 
of  A  Petition  directed  to  her  Majesty.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  difference  between  him  and  Barrowe  is  almost 
more  marked.  '  Martin,'  rigidly  clinging  to  the  '  tetrarchy  ' 
of  church  officers,  even  though  they  owe  their  position  to 
the  consent  of  the  people,  cannot  possibly  be  classed  in  the 
same  school  as  Barrowe.  Barrowe's  Church  is  an  emanci- 
pated democracy ;  its  constitution  is  voluntary.  The 
following  quotations,  from  both  writers,  touching  the 
support  of  the  ministry,  are  in  themselves,  probably, 
sufficient  to  destroy  any  claim  made  on  behalf  of  Barrowe 
to  be  Marprelate  : — 

The  minister's  maintenance  by  tithe,  no  Puritan  denieth  to 
be  unlawful.  For  Martin,  good  Master  Parson,  you  must 
understand  doth  account  no  Brownist  to  be  a  Puritan,  nor  yet 
a  sottish  Cooperist.1 

This  is  Marprelate's  view  in  reply  to  Bishop  Cooper. 
The  following  is  from  Barrowe's  examination  before  Whit- 
gift  in  1587.  The  questions  are  put  by  the  Lord 
Treasurer : — 

Burleigh.  Why,  thou  wouldst  have  the  minister  to  live  of 
somewhat ;  whereof  should  he  live  1 

Barrowe.  Ex  pura  eleemosyna.  Of  clear  alms,  as  Christ  in  his 
testament  hath  ordained  and  as  he  and  his  apostles.2 

5.  Examination  of  the  Evidence  in  Favour  of  assigning  the 
Authorship  to  Penry  or  Throkmorton. — (a)  THE  DIRECTOR- 
SHIP OF  THE  SECRET  PRESS. — In  regard  to  the  housing  of  the 
press,  the  provision  of  printers  and  distributers,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Penry  is  the  principal  figure.  Indeed,  until  the 
retirement  of  Waldegrave,  we  know  of  none  else.  He  it 
was  that  negotiated  with  Mrs.  Crane  of  Aldermary  for  the 
use  of  her  house  at  East  Molesey ;  and  later,  with  Sir 
Richard  Knightley  to  shelter  the  press  at  Fawsley  and  at 
Norton-by-Daventry.  Through  Sir  Richard,  Penry  was 
able  to  prevail  upon  John  Hales,  in  spite  of  his  fears,  to 

1  HAY  ANY  WOKKE,  25. 

2  Examinations  of  Hen.  P>«* •>•»//'•,•.  John  Grenewood,  and  John  Pcnrie,  16. 

u 


2QO  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

shelter  the  press  at  the  White  Friars,  Coventry.  Penry 
was  printer's  reader  and  manager  up  to  this  time.  It  is 
only  at  this  juncture  that  Job  Throkmorton  comes  within 
our  purview.  After  Penry Js  failure  to  induce  Waldegrave 
to  reconsider  his  decision  '  no  longer  to  meddle  or  be  a 
dealer  in  this  course  ' ;  after  his  ineffectual  negotiations  with 
Sharpe,  the  bookbinder,  who  was  able  to  '  worke  about  the 
press/  not  as  an  efficient  compositor,  but  as  he  himself 
'  in  some  sorte  ' ;  Throkmorton  appears  on  the  scene.  He 
commissions  Humfrey  Newman  to  find  a  printer,  and  the 
result  is  the  engagement  of  John  Hodgkins.  But  even 
then,  it  is  Penry  who  is  ostensibly  responsible  for  the 
payment  of  Simms  and  Thomlyn,  Hodgkins'  assistants. 
While  the  printers  were  busy  at  Wolston  printing  THESES 
MARTINIANAE  and  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  Penry  arrives  early 
on  the  scene  to  supervise  the  printing,  binding,  and 
despatch  of  these  tracts.  Throkmorton  follows,  and 
apparently  with  his  arrival  came  the  remainder  of  the 
'  copy '  of  the  first  of  them.  It  was  characteristic  of  his 
extreme  caution  that  he  should  whisperingly  inquire  of 
Hodgkins  if  his  two  men  could  be  depended  upon ;  but  the 
very  question  would  imply  that  he  was  one  of  the  princi- 
pals in  the  confederacy. 

(b)  PENRY'S  AND  THROKMORTON'S  ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  THE 
MANUSCRIPT  ORIGINALS  OF  THE  SECONDARY  TRACTS. — Our 
knowledge  of  the  conduct  of  the  press  under  the  management 
of  Waldegrave  is  slight ;  for  the  reason  that  he  was  never 
arrested  after  he  became  Marprelate's  printer.  Sutcliffe's 
reference  to  his  '  deposition,'  as  we  have  earlier  stated,  is  a 
blunder.  So  soon,  however,  as  we  get  an  interior  view  of 
the  secret  printing-house  (under  the  roof  of  Eoger  Wigston) 
we  find  that  both  Penry  and  Throkmorton  are  able  to  deal 
authoritatively  with  certain  defects  in  the  manuscripts. 
Throkmorton  was  able  to  decipher  for  Simms  certain 
obscurities  arising  from  interlineations.  He  '  did  prsently  l 
read  them  distinctly  and  readily  unto  him.' 2  Penry  also, 
when  the  printers  showed  him  that  towards  the  end  of 

1   '  Presently  '  =  at  once.  2  Manchester  Papers,  123  (G). 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR     291 

Martin  Senior  there  were  some  things  '  written  wthout  sense/ 
'  strooke  owt  certayne  lines  and  interlined  that  wch  should 
be  supplyed.' l 

(c)  THE  EVIDENCE  OF  THE  HANDWRITING. — Our  evidence 
under  this  head  relates  only  to  the  tracts  printed  by 
Hodgkins ;  and  of  these  the  partly  printed  MORE  WORK 
could  be  left  out  of  the  account.  Apart  from  the  reference 
to  its  contents  in  THE  PROTESTATYON,  we  only  know  its 
name.  The  testimony  in  regard  to  the  two  Wolston  Tracts 
is  conflicting,  though  it  involves  only  Penry  and  Throk- 
morton.  Valentine  Simms,  the  compositor,  states  that 
THESES  MARTINIANAE,  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  and  MORE  WORK 
were  in  the  handwriting  of  Throkmorton.  He  '  doth  thinke 
that  "  more  worke  "  was  likewise  of  Mr.  Throkmortons  pen- 
ninge :  for  that  it  was  the  same  hand  that  "  mrtin  senior  " 
and  "  martin  Junior  "  was.' 2  Hodgkins  in  his  deposition 
declares  that  the  handwriting  of  the  three  works  is  'the 
same  or  very  like  to  the  hande  where  with  Penry  corrected 
the  print.'3  Matthew  Sutcliffe  states  that  MORE  WORK  is 
'  written  with  /.  Throkmortons  owne  hande  and  in  divers 
places  with  his  hand  it  is  interlined  and  corrected.' 4  But 
in  another  place  he  states  that  the  manuscript '  which  every 
man  may  see  who  doubteth  hereof,  is  half  of  it  written 
with  lob  Throkmortons  owne  hand.' 5  In  the  Government 
Summary  of  Evidence  we  read  that  '  the  two  handes  vsed 
in  the  same  doe  seeme  to  be,  the  one  Penryes  and  the  other 
his  mans  hand.' 6  Of  the  testimony  of  the  printers  we 
should  be  inclined  to  give  the  greater  weight  to  the  state- 
ment of  Hodgkins,  as  the  weightier  and  more  intelligent 
witness.  But  summing  up  the  whole  of  the  evidence,  the 
greater  likelihood  is  that  the  manuscripts  of  the  works  in 
question,  as  handled  by  the  printers,  were  in  the  joint  hands 
of  Penry  and  Throkmorton ;  though  this  conclusion  is 
contrary  to  the  extreme  caution  of  Throkmorton  in  leaving 

1  Manchester  Papers,  123  ("£).  2  Ibid.  (R). 

3  Harl.  MSS.  7042.  5  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  126. 

4  Ans.  to  J.  Throk.  p.  70  vers.  ;   Arber's  Sketch,  176. 

5  Ibid.  71  vers. ;  Sketch,  178. 

6  Lansd.  MSS.  61.  68  ;  Arber's  Sketch,  117. 


292  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

no  trace  of  his  own  complicity  in  the  enterprise.  And  the 
evidence  on  hand  seems  to  show  that  the  originals  were 
transcribed,  whether  by  the  author  or  by  an  amanuensis  we 
do  not  know,  before  being  handed  to  the  printers.  On 
their  journey  as  prisoners  to  London,  *  Hodgkins  told  Siines 
(this  exanimate)  that  they  had  an  other  copy  of  "more 
worke  for  the  coopr "  wcb  should  serve  them  an  other  time.' 1 
(d)  THE  EVIDENCE  OF  LANGUAGE  AND  STYLE. — Speaking 
broadly,  we  may  say  that  that  which  is  more  conspicuously 
'  Martinist '  in  the  style  of  the  Tracts  is  least  like  Penry's 
style.  Penry  is  a  dexterous  writer,  as  his  tracts  and  letters 
abundantly  show.  He  has  mastered  perfectly  the  English 
tongue.  His  writings  are  not  those  of  an  educated  foreigner  ; 
in  style  they  are  idiomatic  and  thoroughly  English.  The 
ingenious  theories  based  upon  Penry's  supposed  imperfect 
command  of  English,  intended  to  account  for  such  whimsi- 
calities as  '  fickars,'  '  confocation,'  and  the  like,  are  utterly 
wide  of  the  mark.  The  supposition  that  Penry  dictated  the 
text  while  the  printer  set  phonetically  what  he  heard  is  too 
grotesque.  A  compositor  setting  up  such  a  work  as  THE 
EPISTLE  or  THE  EPITOME  at  the  dictation  of  a  reader  is  an 
impossible  supposition.  Moreover,  if  we  could  seriously 
discuss  the  theory  that  Penry  read  out  the  text,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  know  the  Welsh  alphabet  to  understand  that 
an  imperfect  acquaintance  with  the  English  would  not  have 
led  him  to  pronounce  v  as  /,  but  the  opposite.  The  Welsh 
has  no  v ;  the  sound  is  represented  by  a  single  /  (The 
English  /  is  represented  in  Welsh  by  ff.)  The  common 
Welsh  place-name  '  Llanfair '  (St.  Mary's)  is  pronounced 
'  Llanvair  ' ;  '  afon  '  (a  river)  is  pronounced  '  avon.'  There 
is,  of  course,  a  conventional  stage-Welshman,  whose  blunders 
include  the  substitution  of  /  for  v.  Shakespeare's  parson, 
Sir  Hugh  Evans,  says,  '  It  is  that  fery  person,'  and  '  fery 
goot.'  And  it  is  permissible  to  suppose  that  Martin 
imitated  the  conventional  stage- Welshman  (just  as  he 
imitates  the  conventional  rustic  of  the  comedies) ;  and 
did  so  to  suggest  mockingly  to  Whitgift  that  some  one 

1  Manchester  Papers,  123  (last  parag.). 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR     293 

from  the  Welsh  Marches,  or  beyond,  had  a  hand  in  the 
satires. 

The  official  summary  of  information  of  September  21st, 
1589,  remarks  of  MOKE  WORK  and  the  first  three  quartos, 
that  '  the  stile  doth  not  varie.'  It  also  observes  that  the 
style  of  these  writings,  '  when  [the  author]  is  out  of  his 
scoffinge  veyne/  is  like  the  style  of  Penry  as  exhibited  in 
the  volumes  published  under  his  own  name.  This  critical 
judgment  does  not  carry  us  very  far.  As  Dr.  Martyn 
Dexter  says,  it  is  tantamount  to  asserting  that  '  the 
Martinist  tracts  with  their  most  marked  peculiarity  left  out 
were  like  Penry's  (acknowledged)  volumes/  *  There  are 
sections  in  the  Tracts,  and  more  especially  in  the  Secondary 
Tracts,  which  might  have  been  written  by  Penry  ;  but  the 
quips  and  quiddities,  the  wit  and  the  banter,  cannot  claim 
Penry  for  their  author.  The  rhetoric  of  Penry  sometimes 
deepens  into  a  pathetic  eloquence ;  he  is  something  of  an 
artist  in  his  use  of  words  and  phrases ;  yet  he  is  more  than 
a  gifted  stylist ;  he  is  an  apostle  whose  speech  becomes 
touched  with  emotion  as  his  earnestness  gathers  strength. 
But  the  Martin  who  puts  on,  so  easily,  the  antic  disposition 
is  never  more  in  earnest  than  when  his  laughter  is  loudest 
and  his  wit  on  edge.  We  may  confirm  the  critical  judg- 
ment of  a  writer  of  two  centuries  ago.  Of  Penry  he  wrote, 
'  besides  the  assertions  of  that  party  that  shed  his  blood,  I 
have  met  with  nothing  to  induce  me  to  believe  [that  he 
was  Marprelate].  .  .  .  What  I  have  read  of  Penry  appears 
to  me  to  be  written  with  an  intirely  different  stile  and 
temper  from  Martin  Marprelate!  2 

The  theory  that  Job  Throkmorton  was  Martin  Marprelate 
can  be  supported  by  a  more  plausible  body  of  evidence. 
He  was  no  doubt  a  humorist.  In  the  judgment  of  friendly 
critics  he  was  a  facetious  writer  and  speaker ;  his  enemies 
complain  of  his  gibing  tongue?  His  vein  of  pungent  satire 
was  well  known  to  his  contemporaries  ;  this  and  his 

1  Arber's  Sketch,  188. 

2  Jas.  Peirce,  A  Vindic.  of  Dissenters  (1717),  p.  148. 
3  Life  ofQ.  ffliz.,  W.  Camden,  420,  421. 


294  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

humour  may  be  seen,  though  under  strict  restraint,  in  his 
published  Defence  against  Sutcliffe.  His  pre-eminent  literary 
skill  is  not  to  be  doubted.  The  brief  petitions  which  he 
addressed  to  Burleigh  and  Hatton  themselves  suffice  to 
indicate  his  rare  gifts  as  a  stylist.  He  was  not  unconscious 
of  his  powers  of  rough  badinage.  In  his  Defence,  addressed 
to  a  lady  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  his  mother,  he 
refers  to  the  speeches  in  which  Sutcliffe  confuted  Egerton 
'  of  late  in  Pawles ' ;  they  were,  he  says,  '  neither  Greek  nor 
Hebrew,  nor  yet  scarce  an  congruitie  of  good  manner,  but 
(sauing  your  reverence,  Madam)  plaine  Scable  and  Scurvy 
Jacke.  In  which  veine  of  kitchen  rhetorike,  if  they  would 
give  me  leaue  also  to  followe  the  sway  of  fleshe  and  bloud, 
me  thinkes  I  could  easilie  without  anie  great  sweate  or 
paines  (if  there  were  no  boundes  of  modestie  to  restrain  e 
me)  learne  to  confute  the  honestest  man  and  the  greatest 
Clarke  in  Christendome.' *  2 

1  Op.  cit.  B  iii.  rect.  et  vers. 

2  WORD  TESTS. — (a)  In  reading  Throkmorton's  Defence  we  observe  that 
he  employs  the  verb  to  muse  in  a  sense  which  at  the  time  must  have  seemed 
old-fashioned.     In  his  pages  it  connotes  to  marvel,  to  wonder.     It  was  a 
favourite  word  with  him.     Here  are  examples  : — 

Musinge  with  myself  that  he  would  thus  boldlie  rush  upon  these  matters.1 
Further,  I  cannot  but  muze  that  he  being  a  scholer,  etc.2 
I  muse  they  would  not  publishe  it  altogither.3 
I  muse,  I  say,  if  he  should  comment  on  this.4 

This  use  of  the  word  can  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Spenser  and  Bacon  ; 
but  it  was  not  common  in  1588.6 

Examples  of  the  word  are  to  be  found  only  in  the  two  last  of  the  printed 
Tracts,  with  the  antique  meaning  to  marvel : — 

Nevertheless,  I  muse  thou  didst  let  him  go  clear  away.  ...   I  muse  thou 
saidst  nothing  to  that.6 

I  greatly  muse  that  our  prelates  will  be  so  overseen.7 

We  are  also  interested  to  find  this  use  of  the  word  in  the  pamphlet  M.  Some 
in  his  Colliers  : — 

I  cannot  but  muse  at  one  thing. 

I  muse  your  D.  would  be  at  cost  to  print  vs  a  new  Almanacke  of  last  yeare.8 

1  Op.  cit.  A  ii.  vers.  2  Ibid.  C  ii.  vers. 

3  Ibid.  B  ii.  4  Ibid.  B  iii.  vers. 

5  See  Faerie  Qiieene,  Bk.  i.  xii.  29,  Bk.  n.  i.  9  ;  Life  of  Henry  VII. 

6  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  sig.  D  iv. 
7  THE  PROTESTATYON,  18.  8  Op.  cit.  25,  27. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR      295 

(e)  THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNFINISHED  THESES  MARTIN- 
IANAE. — -The  determination  of  the  exact  relation  of  Throk- 
morton  and  Penry  to  the  Tracts  will  be  found  at  last  to  turn 
largely  upon  our  interpretation  of  the  incomplete  sentences 
of  this  interim  publication.  A  plausible  theory  is  to  our 
hand  were  it  not  for  these  imperfections.  The  problem,  in  a 

(&)  Penry  had  a  liking  for  the  word  oppugn,  which,  being  a  somewhat 
uncommon  word,  arrests  our  attention  : — 

They  are  intolerable  oppugners  of  Gods  glory.1 

Wherein  you  by  oppugning  that  trueth  which  out  of  the  worde  of  God  I  had 
sette  down.'2 

I  am  sory  that  you  whom  I  reverence  should  be  the  instrument  to  oppugn  a 
trueth.3 

The  word  occurs  also  in  the  Tracts  : — 

That  her  Majesty's  true  subjects  in  oppugning  the  state  of  the  lord  bishops, 
etc. 

That  those  who  defend  the  doctrine  of  our  Church  in  oppugning  our  Bishops, 
etc.4 

I  will  .   .   .   maintain  ...   as  ever  I  did  oppugn,  etc.5 

(c)  Another  interesting  verbal  peculiarity  is  the  employment  of  the  verb 
to  insult,  with  the  meaning  of  to  exult ;  a  meaning  which  at  the  time  was 
fast  going  out  of  use.6     It  also  occurs  with  the  same  meaning  in  M.  Some  in 
Ms  Coulcrs.7 

(d]  And  in  connection  with  the  latter  tract,  it  may  be  worth  while  to 
add  that  Marprelate  used  the  phrase,  '  I  shall  paint  them  in  their  coulers,' 
with  the  spelling  of  the  italicised  word  as  in  the  above  title,  in  his  first  tract, 
THE  EPISTLE  (41,  108)  ;  while  in  the  interim  tract,  THESES,  the  sentence 
occurs  (in  the  original),  '  for  now  art  thou  set  out  in  thy  colors '  (sig.  C  iv. ). 
But  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  is  a  precarious  proceeding  to  draAV  any 
deduction  from  the  spelling  of  words  in  the   publications   of  this   period. 
Two  editions  of  the  same  work,  printed  within  a  few  months  of  each  other, 
will,  in  some  cases,  show  endless  variations  in  orthography. 

The  word-tests  cited  above  must  be  taken  for  what  they  are  worth.  They 
are  supported  by  too  few  examples,  being  drawn  from  a  necessarily  restricted 
area,  to  be  of  much  value  standing  alone.  Nor  is  their  significance  perfectly 
clear,  whatever  value  wre  should  be  pleased  to  assign  to  them.  In  the  case 
of  Job  Throkmorton  they  would  suggest  that  he  was  '  Martin  Senior '  ;  also 
the  author  of  M.  Some  in  his  Coulers,  which  already  we  have  assigned  to  his 
pen  ;  and  in  the  case  of  John  Penry,  that  he  \vas  '  Martin  Junior,'  and 
helped  Throkmorton  in  the  first  part  of  the  hastily  written  PROTESTATYON. 
They  are  matters  which  we  shall  have  to  discuss  before  we  close. 

1  A   Viewe  (vulgo,  The  Supplication},  53. 

2  A  Def.  of  that  which  hath  been  uwitten,  1. 

3  Ibid.  63.  4  THESES,  §  94,  §  100. 

5  PROTESTATYON,  9.  6  THE  EPISTLE,  title-page. 

7  Op.  cit.  'Ep.  to  the  Reader.'  See  Foxe,  A.  and  M.  iv.  645  ;  Park.  Corresp. 
364.  Shakespeare  uses  the  more  common  form,  insult  upon,  to  express  the 
meaning  exult. 


296  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

word,  is  this :  Why  did  not  Penry  or  Throkmorton,  or  both, 
complete  the  unfinished  sentences  in  THESES  ? 

Professedly  this  tract  is  written  by  two  hands.  The 
Editor,  '  Martin  Junior,'  contributes  the  title-page,  a  few 
introductory  sentences,  and  an  Epilogue.  The  central 
section  by  '  Martin  Marprelate  the  Great '  consists  of  a 
short  '  preamble '  and  one  hundred  and  ten  THESES.  Our 
task  centres  itself  in  the  elucidation  of  the  c  preamble/  It 
is  written  specially  for  the  occasion.  It  is  no  '  remainder 
biscuit '  from  an  earlier  enterprise,  upon  which  the  managers 
have  fallen  back  in  their  pressing  need  of  '  copy '  to 
keep  the  printers  employed.  In  the  opening  sentence 
there  is  a  recognition  of  the  dislike  with  which  Martin's 
'  doings '  and  his  '  course '  up  to  this  time  are  regarded 
by  many,  '  both  the  good  and  the  bad ' ;  '  by  the  Bishops 
and  their  train ' ;  also  by  '  those  whom,  foolishly,  men  call 
Puritans.'  It  banters  Bishop  Cooper,  whose  Admonition 
had  been  some  months  in  circulation,  for  offering  '  his 
opinion '  on  the  question  of  Church  government,  as  though 
it  were  equivalent  to  Scriptural  proof  and  argument.  As  a 
whole,  judged  by  its  contents,  it  falls  naturally  into  its  place 
after  HAY  ANY  WORKE,  and  must  have  been  recently 
written ;  a  section  of  it  so  recently  that  it  is  still  unfinished 
when  handed  over  to  the  printer.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
*  preamble '  a  gap  is  left  for  the  insertion  of  a  sentence 
which  was  either  lacking  in  the  '  copy '  or  undecipherable 
by  the  printers ;  at  its  close  we  have  the  abrupt  termina- 
tion, 'otherwise  their  812,  their  1401 ' — figures  which,  as 
we  have  shown,  refer  to  these  pages  in  Bridges'  Defence. 
The  THESES  also  end  abruptly  with  an  unfinished  sentence 
and  are  otherwise  imperfect,  not  being  furnished  with  the 
necessary  references ;  but  this  may  reasonably  be  put  down 
to  want  of  time,  and  leave  the  THESES  as  stated,  only  rela- 
tively imperfect.  Martin  Junior  refers  to  them  as  a  '  first 
draft.' 1 

Martin  Junior's  account  of  how  he  came  into  possession 
of  the  'copy'   written  by  his   Father,  Martin  the  Great, 
1  THESES,  sig.  C  iv. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR     297 

agrees  substantially  with  the  statement  of  Hodgkins  the 
printer.  He  says,  'if  you  demand  of  me,  where  I  found 
this,  the  truth  is  it  was  taken  up  (together  with  certain 
other  papers)  besides  a  bush,  where  it  had  dropped  from 
somebody  passing  that  way/ l  Hodgkins  in  his  account 
tells  us  that  when  he  brought  his  printers  from  London,  he 
left  them  at  Adderbury  and  himself  proceeded  to  Haseley. 
There  he  found  Squire  Throkmorton  and  also  Penry.  The 
chief  news  he  received  was  that  MORE  WORK  was  not  ready 
for  the  press ;  but  he  was  promised  a  smaller  pamphlet  to 
occupy  his  men  in  the  meantime.  Next  day,  as  he  left  for 
Warwick,  on  his  way  to  Wolston,  where  the  press  and  type 
were  lying,  Penry  '  would  needes  bringe  him  one  his  waye/ 
and  ( within  a  boult  shoote  of  the  house '  they  found  '  a 
great  part  of  the  saide  "  theses."  '  The  remaining  portion 
of  the  copy  reached  the  printers'  hands  after  the  arrival  of 
Throkmorton  at  Wolston,  four  days  later.  Simms  naturally 
assumed  that  it  was  brought  by  him ;  conceivably  it  might 
have  been  brought  by  Penry,  who  reached  the  Friary  a  day 
earlier  than  the  appearance  of  the  '  copy '  and  the  arrival  of 
Throkmorton.  With  these  simple  facts  before  us,  is  it 
possible  to  hold  that  either  Penry  or  Throkmorton  wrote 
the  Preamble  ?  '  Martin  Junior/  who  edited  the  THESES, 
we  are  quite  prepared  to  believe  was  John  Penry ;  but  we 
cannot  suppose  that  the  writer  of  the  Preamble  intended 
that  it  should  be  printed  in  its  unfinished  state. 

Passing  for  the  moment  to  the  companion  tract,  THE 
JUST  CENSURE  AND  EEPROOFE  OF  MARTIN  JUNIOR,  commonly 
called  '  Martin  Senior/  we  find  that  the  assumptions  of  the 
authorship  of  THESES  MARTINIANAE  are  continued.  The 
fresh  tract  is  called  forth  as  a  reproof  of  the  rash  precipi- 
tancy of  the  younger  brother,  by  Martin  Senior.  The  youth, 
Jack,  as  he  is  several  times  called,  that  is,  John  Penry,  has 
sent  forth  their  Father's  writings  in  an  unfinished  state. 
But  it  should  be  carefully  noted  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
JUST  CENSURE  on  this  point  which  may  not  be  naturally 
applied  to  printing,  not  the  incomplete  preamble,  but  the 

1  Op.  cit.  sig.  C  iii.  vers.  2  Yelverton  MSS.  70.  146. 


298  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

THESES  without  their  supporting  references.1  That  is  to 
say,  there  is  nothing  in  the  tract  which  Job  Throkmorton 
could  not  have  written,  after  Penry  and  Hodgkins  had 
left  Haseley  Manor  for  Wolston,  and  before  he  knew 
that  the  '  preamble  '  had  been  printed  in  its  incomplete- 
ness. 

There  are  now  before  us  two  theories  which  may  more 
or  less  satisfactorily  account  for  the  textual  condition  of 
THESES  MARTINIANAE,  and  for  the  authorship  of  that  tract 
and  of  its  companion  and  sequel.  The  first  and  simplest  is 
to  accept  the  names  Martin  Junior  and  Martin  Senior  as 
indicating  the  advent  of  two  new  writers.  They  distinguish 
themselves  from  Martin  Marprelate,  the  writer  of  the  three 
first  Primary  Tracts,  calling  him  their  Father.  This  secret 
personage  has  conveyed  to  them  his  unfinished  writings — 
he  is  busy  writing  the  large  tract  MORE  WORK  FOR  COOPER 
—which,  judging  now  from  the  actual  story  of  Hodgkins 
and  his  men,  were  edited  by  John  Penry,  who  is  Martin 
Junior  or  Jack.  This  is  followed  up  by  Job  Throkmorton 
or  Martin  Senior,  who  writes  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND  RE- 
PROOFE,  the  writing  which  Hodgkins  was  able  to  promise  his 
men  on  the  Friday  on  which  Job  Throkmorton  arrived  at 
Wolston,  would  be  ready  when  Martin  Junior  was  out  of 
their  hands.2  But  the  more  simple  theory  is  not  necessarily 
the  more  probable,  especially  when  we  have  to  deal  with  an 
astute,  cautious,  and  complex  mind.  Penry  is  a  man  of 
much  simplicity  of  character ;  his  courage  in  conducting  the 
Marprelate  press  verges  on  recklessness ;  his  stratagem  is  his 
boldness  and  rapidity  of  movement.  Not  so  Throkmorton ; 
he  is  more  circumspect ;  he  never  innocently  walks  into 
ambuscade ;  he  is  subtler  in  his  tactics  than  his  Welsh  con- 
federate. In  a  half-humorous  way  he  takes  Penry  to  task 
for  his  reckless  openness,  which  also  was  a  matter  of  com- 
plaint against  Penry  on  the  part  of  Waldegrave.  This,  as 
well  as  certain  indications  of  style,  would  lead  us  to  recon- 

1  The  phrase   '  than  to  have  .   .   .   published  his   imperfect   questions ' 
seems  to  allude  definitely  to  the  THESES.      Each  thesis  is  an  implied  question. 
THESES  MART.  sig.  B  i. 

2  Manchester  Papers,  123  (J). 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR     299 

struct  the  story  of  these  two  Wolston  interim  tracts  as 
follows.  When  Penry,  and  later  Hodgkins,  arrived  at 
Haseley  Manor  they  found  that  MORE  WORK  FOR  COOPER 
was  not  ready ;  a  kind  of  indolence,  or  lack  of  driving 
power,  is  often  characteristic  of  such  a  mind  as  Throk- 
rnorton's.  He  can  be  naturally  contrasted  with  Penry, 
whose  literary  rapidity  was  the  fruit  of  his  more  direct 
vision.  The  long  subsequent  years  of  Throkmorton's 
religious  unrest  is  typical  of  his  intellectual  temperament. 
We  are  therefore  inclined  to  suppose  that,  having  the 
unfinished  THESES  by  him — they  are  full  of  subtle  dialectical 
points — he  furnished  them  with  the  <  preamble,'  in  which  a 
couple  of  lacunae  were  left,  to  be  filled  in  later  on,  either  by 
himself  or  by  Penry,  on  reference  to  Bridges'  Defence,  and  to 
some  other  authority.1  There  was  great  haste  needed. 
The  printers  had  already  arrived  in  the  Midlands ;  and 
Hodgkins,  a  man  of  much  energy  and  decision,  had  reached 
the  manor-house  late  on  Sunday  night.  For  his  own  sake, 
as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  Throkmorton,  Hodgkins  was  not 
to  learn  the  secret  of  authorship ;  therefore,  by  the  device 
which  we  know,  the  '  copy '  was  dropped  by  the  bush,  in 
the  darkness  of  that  night ;  a  showery  night,  it  is  suggested. 
Next  morning  Penry  convoyed  the  master-printer  by  the 
right  path  that  he  might  pick  up  the  papers. 

There  are  good  grounds  for  the  supposition  that  for 
safety  sake,  Penry  was  not  to  know  who  was  the  anonymous 
author.  As  '  Martin  Senior '  suggests,  if  he  did  riot  know, 
then  Whitgift  could  not,  if  he  succeeded  in  arresting  him, 
wring  from  him  the  secret  by  torture.2  But  during  the 
walk  with  Hodgkins  as  far  as  Warwick,  the  rain-washed 
manuscript  would  be  examined.  It  consisted  of  the 
'preamble'  and  the  one  hundred  and  ten  THESES.  The 

1  It  is  to  be  noted  that  '  Martin  Senior '  refers  to  Tyndale's  Obcd.  of  a 
Christian  Man,  but  for  want  of  '  convenient  leisure '  he  cannot  give  the  exact 
quotation,  though  he  quotes  the  page.     He  has  not  the  volume  by  him  when 
writing.     JUST  CENSURE,  D  i.  vers. 

2  '  The  reason  why  we  must  not  know  our  father  is  that  I  fear  lest  some 
of  us  should  fall  into  John  Canterbury's  hand,   and  the[n]  he'll  threaten 
us  with  the  rack,  unless  we  bewray  all  we  know.' — JUST  CENSUKE,  sig. 
D  iv.  vers. 


300  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

imperfections  iii  the  former  would  at  once  be  seen.  It 
was  the  hastily  written  introduction  to  the  THESES.  We 
feel  sure  Hodgkius  would  be  no  advocate  of  any  delay 
in  proceeding  with  the  work.  He  was  full  of  push  and 
energy  and  got  through  his  task  with  far  greater  despatch 
than  Waldegrave  had  shown  in  printing  the  black-letter 
Tracts.  Within  a  fortnight  he  had  printed  THESES 
MARTINIANAE  and  THE  JUST  CENSURE  and  was  off  with 
his  '  stuff '  to  Warrington.  He  conceived  that  his  safety 
lay  in  the  rapidity  of  his  movements,  and  therefore  refused 
entirely  the  invitation  of  Mrs.  Wigston  to  remain  at  the 
Friary  and  print  MORE  WORK  FOR  COOPER.  Certainly  the 
decision  of  Hodgkins  would  be  beyond  doubt  to  go  on 
without  delay  with  the  '  copy '  such  as  it  was.  Leaving 
Hodgkins  to  find  his  man,  according  to  his  appointment, 
at  Warwick,  and  to  proceed  to  Wolston,  Penry  would 
travel  to  Coventry,  where  he  appears  to  have  had  friends 
Here  he  penned  the  introductory  pages — the  title-page  and 
the  short  prefatory  note.  The  faithful  were  holding  a  fast 
at  Coventry,  and  among  them  was  Mrs.  Wigston.  For  this 
reason  she  was  not  at  home  to  receive  the  printers  on 
their  coming.  She  arrived  on  Tuesday  night,  and  doubtless 
handed  over  to  Hodgkins  Penry's  prefatory  words,  which 
enabled  him  to  strike  off  the  earlier  half-sheets  without 
delay.  Penry  recognises  the  incompleteness  of  the  writings 
he  is  introducing  to  the  reader.  The  principal  matter  is 
the  lack  of  explanatory  references  to  accompany  the  THESES. 
There  is  no  intention  of  completing  them.  He  says  later 
in  his  Epilogue  that  '  proofs '  of  a  third  of  them  can  be 
found  in  HAY  ANY  WORKE.  But  the  entire  tract  only 
partakes  of  the  character  of  a  stop-gap.  The  deficiencies  in 
the  '  preamble '  were  of  a  different  character.  The  writer 
never  intended  they  should  appear  in  the  printed  copy. 
The  printers  even  left  a  space  for  the  insertion  of  the 
missing  sentence;  and  as  it  was  not  forthcoming,  and 
evidently  Penry  could  supply  neither  it  nor  the  extended 
references  indicated  by  the  figures  at  the  close,  it  was 
struck  off  in  this  fashion.  The  only  reference  to  these 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR      301 

omissions  is  in  the  short  introductory  sentences  by  Martin 
Junior  on  the  verso  of  the  title-page.  He  says : 

This  small  thing  that  followeth  before  the  THESES  is  also  his 
own.  I  have  set  down  the  speech  as  I  found  it,  though 
unperfect. 

The  other  references  in  these  sentences  and  in  the  Epilogue, 
and  in  the  following  tract  THE  JUST  CENSURE,  are  to  the 
incompleteness  of  the  THESES.  The  most  natural  explana- 
tion, taking  all  the  facts  into  account,  is  that  Job  Throk- 
morton  was  the  source  of  the  THESES,  and  that  by  his  default 
the  '  preamble '  had  to  be  printed  in  its  unfinished  state. 

(/)  THE  RELATIVE  LITERARY  MERITS  OF  THE  PRIMARY  AND 
SECONDARY  TRACTS. — The  author  of  Martins  Months  Mind, 
when  THESES  MARTINIANAE  and  THE  JUST  CENSURE  were 
published  under  the  pseudonyms  of  '  Martin  Junior '  and 
'  Martin  Senior/  remarked,  that  '  Old  Martin  [was]  a  wittier 
fool  than  his  sonnes.' l  Is  this  a  sound  critical  judgment  ? 
We  have  seen  reason  to  disbelieve  the  theory  that  Penry 
was  Martin  Marprelate.  He  probably  wrote  the  editorial 
matter  in  THESES  ;  and  this  section  being  more  or  less  in 
Penry's  known  style,  with  such  adaptations  to  fit  the 
assumed  situation  as  he  was  capable  of,  we  may  agree  at 
once  that  they  cannot  claim  the  kind  of  wit  which  char- 
acterised the  writings  of  c  Old  Martin.'  What  remains  of 
this  tract  does  not  afford  us  much  material  whereby  to 
institute  a  comparison  between  it  and  the  Primary  Tracts  ; 
the  '  preamble '  is  too  short  though  not  without  a  positive 
Martinist  flavour;  and  the  hundred-and-ten  THESES  do  not 
lend  themselves  to  such  literary  criticism.  THE  JUST 
CENSURE  by  '  Martin  Senior '  may,  however,  be  set  beside 
THE  EPISTLE,  THE  EPITOME,  and  HAY  ANY  WORKE  for  the 
purpose  of  our  criticism.  The  element  of  censure  and 
reproof  to  be  found  in  it  here  and  there,  and  advertised 
in  its  title-page,  is  small  and  detachable;  a  little  addition 
of  the  literary  costumier's  to  enable  the  body  of  the  tract 
to  fit  the  vacant  part  in  the  new  act  in  the  play.  Its 

1  Op.  cit.  D  i.  vers. 


302  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

substantial  and  really  noteworthy  sections  are  the  charges 
which  '  Martin  Senior '  imagines  Whitgift  and  Aylmer  to 
have  delivered  to  their  respective  pursuivants ;  and  the 
delicious  explication  of  '  Bishops'  English.'  Besides  which 
there  are  various  digressions  and  proposals  and  affirmations, 
all,  at  least,  after  the  manner  of  the  earlier  Martins.  But 
can  it  be  said  of  all  these  specified  portions  that  they  are 
of  a  piece  with  the  veritable  writings  of  '  Old  Martin '  ? 
They  are  undoubtedly  the  more  attractive  parts  of  the 
tract  and  would  form  part  of  a  Martin  even  were  the 
assumption  of  the  elder  brother  '  Martin  Senior '  entering 
into  fray,  never  adopted.  Are  they,  however,  of  such  a 
character  that  they  could  justly  be  ascribed  to  the  writer 
of  THE  EPISTLE  ?  We  give  it  as  our  judgment,  that  nothing 
in  THE  JUST  CENSURE  quite  equals,  or  perhaps  it  would  be 
better  to  say,  is  of  quite  the  same  sparkle  and  vivacity  as 
the  finer  parts  of  the  black-letter  Tracts  ;  though  we  admit 
that  the  speech  to  his  laggard  and  unsuccessful  pursuivants 
put  into  the  mouth  of  the  Archbishop  is  cleverly  done,  and 
closely  after  the  recognised  manner  of  Marprelate.  But  in 
THE  EPISTLE,  THE  EPITOME,  and  HAY  ANY  WOKKE  we  discover 
a  spontaneity,  an  unexpectedness,  a  provoking  and  strongly 
sustained  satirical  familiarity,  an  easily  assumed  bonhomie 
masking  a  fierce  indignation  at  the  lawless  oppression  of 
Whitgift  and  his  Bishops,  which  we  discover,  in  the  same 
measure,  in  no  other  writing  of  the  time. 

The  question  now  remains  to  be  asked,  If  our  view  of 
the  relative  characters  of  these  writings  be  correct,  does  it 
certainly  follow  that  they  are  not  the  work  of  one  and  the 
same  author  ?  Let  us  remember  that  these  interim  publica- 
tions, in  any  case,  were  merely  interludes.  The  genuine 
successor  to  the  greater  Tracts  is  the  long-looked-for  MORE 
WORK  FOR  COOPER  ;  a  composition  which  we  may  assume 
had  all  the  features  which  made  the  first  Tracts  so  popular. 
Even  if  we  identified  '  Martin  Senior '  with  '  Old  Martin/ 
should  we  not  expect  in  the  lever  de  rideau  writing,  some- 
thing less  of  vim  and  wit  than  in  the  writings  in  chief? 
Are  there  not  in  the  undisputed  writings  of  known  authors, 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR  AUTHOR  303 

pieces  of  happy  inspiration  which  stand  in  contrast  with 
the  more  ordinary  character  of  their  remaining  works  ? 
Macaulay  takes  the  well-known  case  of  Francis,  the  imputed 
writer  of  The  Letters  of  Junius.  It  was  pointed  out  that 
the  acknowledged  writings  of  Philip  Francis  were  inferior 
in  keenness  and  style  to  the  celebrated  Letters.  Macaulay's 
reply  is  so  much  to  our  present  point  that  his  words  may 
be  quoted  : 

Nobody  will  say  that  the  best  letters  of  Junius  are  more 
decidedly  superior  to  the  acknowledged  works  of  Francis  than 
three  or  four  of  Corneille's  tragedies  to  the  rest,  than  three 
or  four  of  Ben  Jonson's  comedies  to  the  rest,  than  the  Pilgrim's 
Progress  to  the  other  works  of  Bunyan,  than  Don  Quixote  to  the 
other  works  of  Cervantes.  Nay,  it  is  certain  that  Junius,  who- 
ever he  may  have  been,  was  a  most  unequal  writer.  To  go  no 
farther  than  the  letters  which  bear  the  signature  of  Junius ;  the 
letter  to  the  King,  and  the  letters  to  Home  Tooke  have  little  in 
common  except  the  asperity.1 

The  writing  of  '  Martin  Senior '  is  sufficiently  near  the 
style  of  the  earlier  Martins,  that  they  may  have  had  a 
common  authorship.  And  if  there  be  strong  grounds  for 
assigning  the  authorship  of  THE  JUST  CENSURE  to  Throk- 
morton,  then  he  may  with  probability  be  regarded  as 
Martin  Marprelate. 

(g)  THE  EVIDENCE  OF  THE  PROTESTATYON. — There  re- 
mains one  more  tract,  one  of  the  Primaries,  to  be  con- 
sidered. The  last  of  the  series  to  be  actually  printed 
and  by  slow  and  cautious  degrees  to  be  circulated,  THE 
PROTESTATYON  OF  MARTIN  MARPRELATE  is  a  pamphlet  of 
exceptional  interest.  We  have  no  reason  to  question  its 
authorship.  It  assumes  to  be,  what  from  circumstantial 
and  internal  evidence  we  must  conclude  it  is,  a  work  from 
the  pen  of  the  doughty  champion  himself.  It  was  written 
like  the  interim  Tracts  under  the  pressure  of  great  haste. 
But  his  desperate  straits  have  only  nerved  Marprelate  for 
this  last  attack.  The  old  ardour  burns  in  his  veins ;  the 
old  wit  flashes  from  his  rapid  and  defiant  sentences. 

1  Essays,  '  Warren  Hastings. ' 


304  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Things  have  gone  against  him ;  especially  he  has  to  lament 
the  bitter  calamity  of  the  seizure  of  the  printers  ;  John 
Hodgkins  and  his  two  men,  Siinms  and  Thomlyn,  are  at 
the  mercy  of  Whitgift  and  his  High  Commission.  He  has 
been  waging  at  great  odds  a  guerilla  warfare,  and  the 
Archbishop's  forces  have  been  too  much  for  him.  In  such 
a  plight  only  Martin  Marprelate  could  have  written  THE 
PROTESTATYON. 

The  circumstances  already  narrated  show  convincingly 
that  the  two  persons  concerned  in  this  last  venture  were 
Throkmorton  and  Penry.  As  customary,  Throkmorton 
had  early  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  captive  printers  in 
London,  at  the  end  of  August  1589.  The  news  was  at 
once  despatched  to  Penry,  then  at  Wolston,  where  there 
still  remained  a  printing-press  and  type.  There,  in  every 
probability,  and  not  at  Haseley,  the  last  tract  was  printed. 
We  have  no  suggestion,  in  the  available  evidence,  of  a  press 
ever  having  been  lodged  at  Haseley;  and  the  extreme 
caution  exercised  by  Throkmorton  in  all  his  dealings  in  the 
Marprelate  enterprise,  strongly  incline  us  to  believe  that  he 
never  had  the  printing  apparatus  under  his  roof.  But  the 
ink,  we  learn,  was  forwarded  from  London  to  Haseley ;  and 
to  Haseley  the  printed  copies  of  the  PROTESTATYON  were 
brought,  and  there  remained  undistributed,  till  later  they 
were  removed  to  the  house  of  Henry  Godley  at  North- 
ampton. Neither  of  the  confederates  would  remain  at 
Wolston  the  whole  of  the  time  occupied  in  printing  THE 
PROTESTATYON.1  The  printers  were  in  custody  and  they 
knew  not  how  much  information  the  torture  would  compel 
them  to  divulge.  Care  had  been  taken  not  to  let  the 
assistant  printers  Siinms  and  Thomlyn  know  the  names  of 
Penry  and  Throkmorton  during  the  previous  printing  at 
Wolston ;  but  the  danger  was  obvious.  Penry  would 
doubtless  return  to  Northampton  and  Throkmorton  to 
Haseley.  The  absence  of  a  competent  reader  of  the  proofs 
(for  the  printer  of  the  principal  part  of  the  PROTESTATYON 

1  The  story  of  the  clumsy  setting  up  of  the  first  half-sheet,  probably  by 
Penry  and  Throkmorton,  is  told  above,  p.  193. 


THE  TRACTS  AND  THEIR   AUTHOR       305 

can  only  be  regarded  as  competent  by  comparing  his  work 
with  that  of  the  blundering  amateurs  who  set  up  the  first 
half -sheet)  will  explain  the  muddled  repetition  of  the 
sentences  in  the  third  half -sheet.  But  the  principal 
arrived  in  time  to  point  out  on  the  last  page  the  confusion 
which  had  occurred.  '  Mend  that  thyself/  he  says,  '  if  thou 
wilt ;  for  I  promise  thee  I  cannot.'  Then  in  thoroughly 
Martinesque  fashion  he  makes  amends,  by  telling  an  anec- 
dote of  the  eccentric  Dean  Bullen. 

Just  as  in  the  '  preamble  '  to  the  THESES,  here  also  even 
more  distinctly,  the  writer  assumes  himself  to  be  the  same 
that  wrote  the  black-letter  quartos.  '  I  who  do  now  go 
under  the  name  of  Martin  Marprelate '  is  his  description  of 
himself.1  He  speaks  naturally  as  Martin,  in  the  following 
fine  passages : — 

As  for  myself,  my  life,  and  whatsoever  else  I  possess,  I  have 
long  ago  set  up  my  rest ; 2  making  that  account  of  it  as  in  stand- 
ing against  the  enemies  of  God  and  for  the  liberty  of  His 
church,  it  is  no  value  in  my  sight.  My  life  in  this  cause,  shall 
be  a  gain  to  the  church,  and  no  loss  to  myself,  I  know  right 
well ;  and  this  is  all  the  reckoning  which,  by  the  assistance  of 
the  Lord,  I  will  make  as  long  as  I  live,  of  all  the  torments  they 
have  devised  for  me.3 

Hereunto  you  may  add,  that  I  fear  them  not ;  inasmuch  as 
the  end  wherefore  I  have  taken  this  work  in  hand,  was  only  the 
glory  of  God ;  by  delivering  (of)  His  church  from  the  great 
tyranny  and  bondage,  wherewith  these  tyrants  do  oppress  the 
same.  I  dealt  not  herein,  as  the  Lord  knoweth,  because  I  would 
please  myself,  or  my  reader,  in  a  pleasant  vein  of  writing.  If 
that  be  the  thing  I  sought,  or  seek,  after,  then  let  my  writings 
be  buried  in  the  grave  of  all  proud  prelates;  that  is,  never 
mentioned  in  the  church  of  God  without  detestation.4 

These,  beyond  all  doubt,  are  the  words  of  Martin  Marprelate, 
author  of  the  Tracts  which  earlier  were  issued  under  that 
name.  His  statement  covers  all  his  '  writings.'  To  suppose 
that  either  Penry  or  Throkmorton  assumed  the  name  of  the 

1  Op.  cit.  10. 

2  ='  Taken  my  irrevocable  stand.'     A  phrase  taken  from  the  card -game 
primero. 

3  Op.  cit.  14.  *  Ibid.  17. 

X 


306  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

earlier  writer  and  dramatically  and  imaginatively  spoke  in 
his  name,  appealing  solemnly  to  the  Almighty  to  attest  the 
truth  of  his  words,  is  utterly  impossible.  The  writer  of  the 
PROTESTATYON  is  the  same  who  wrote  the  EPISTLE.  Also 
his  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  MORE  WORK,  for  we  may 
credit  the  account  given  us  of  that  writing  in  the  PRO- 
TESTATYON,  could  scarcely  in  the  circumstances  have  been 
written  by  any  one  but  the  author  of  MORE  WORK.  We 
now  therefore  are  face  to  face  with  our  last  question : 
Does  the  PROTESTATYON,  printed  beyond  doubt  through  the 
agency  of  Penry  and  Throkmorton,  offer  any  further  evi- 
dence pointing  to  either  of  these  men,  or  both  conjointly,  as 
its  author  or  authors  ?  What  has  been  said  before  may 
here  be  repeated.  There  are  sections  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  tract  which  conceivably  could  have  been  written  by 
Penry.  Nevertheless  we  incline  to  believe  that  it  is  the 
work  of  a  single  writer.  For  reasons  already  given  this 
writer  may  well  have  been  Throkmorton.  We  have  the 
special  use  of  his  favourite  word  '  to  muse ' ;  also  a  refer- 
ence to  one  of  the  few  names  occurring  in  Marprelate's 
pages  which  we  have  failed  to  identify,  and  have  only  been 
able  to  trace  in  one  other  contemporary  work.  It  is  the 
name  of  '  old  Lockwood  of  Sarum/  and  occurs  again  in 
M.  Some  in  his  Coulers,  which  we  strongly  believe  was  written 
by  Throkmorton. 

There  is  one  more  piece  of  evidence  in  the  PROTESTATYON, 
as  we  have  stated  above,  which  also  points,  even  more 
strongly  than  anything  hitherto  considered,  to  Throkmorton 
as  its  writer ;  and  therefore  to  him  as  Martin  Marprelate. 
Bancroft  in  his  sermon  at  Paul's  Cross  expressed  his  con- 
cern for  Martin's  wife  and  children.  He  reproached  Martin 
for  the  trouble  he  had  brought  upon  them.  In  the  PRO- 
TESTATYON Martin  refers  to  this  matter.  He  says — 

I  am  blamed  of  many  in  this  mine  attempt,  not  only  for 
throwing  myself  into  great  danger,  but  also  for  the  utter  un- 
doing of  my  wife  and  children.  I  do  thank  them  with  all  my 
heart,  for  their  care  over  these  poor  souls,  and  commend  them 
for  their  secrecy  and  wisdom ;  that  in  knowing  my  wife  and 


THE  TRACTS   AND  THEIR  AUTHOR       307 

children,  they  have  not,  by  showing  their  immeasurable  love 
towards  them,  discovered  me.  .  .  . 

Will  you  believe  me  then,  if  I  tell  you  the  truth  1  To  put 
you  therefore  out  of  all  doubt,  I  may  safely  protest  unto  you, 
with  a  good  conscience,  .  .  .  that  hitherto  I  never  had  wife  nor 
child  in  all  my  life.  Not  that  I  never  mean  to  have  any ;  for, 
it  may  be,  notwithstanding  all  the  rage  and  barking  of  the 
Lambethical  whelps,  I  may  be  married,  and  that  ere  it  be  long.1 

Penry,  we  have  seen,  was  married  in  September  the  previous 
year.  But  Throkmorton  actually  married  Dorothy  Vernon 
of  Houndhill  about  this  time.2  His  eldest  child  Clement 
was  baptized  the  late  summer  of  1590  by  Thomas  Cart- 
wright.  We  learn  this  from  Whitgift's  articles  of  indict- 
ment against  Cartwright,  dated  September  1st,  1590, 
which  accuse  him  of  seizing  the  occasion  to  condemn  the 
'  ecclesiastical  government  then  established/  and  especially 
the  liturgy.  If  we  are  convinced  that  Job  Throkmorton 
wrote  the  PROTESTATYON,  we  may  yet  wonder  why  he  gave 
this  frank  and  compromising  piece  of  autobiography.  It  is 
a  question  similar  to  that  which  perplexed  us  in  relation  to 
the  names  mentioned  in  THE  JUST  CENSURE.  It  cannot 
have  been  reckless  bravado.  Perhaps  there  was  a  man 
married,  and  with  wife  and  children,  whom  the  prelates 
were  bent  upon  undoing,  because  they  falsely  suspected 
him  of  being  Marprelate ;  and  these  words  may  have  been 
an  effort  to  deliver  him  out  of  his  danger.  But  they  add 
considerably  to  the  sum  of  the  circumstantial  evidence 
pointing  to  Job  Throkmorton  as  the  great  anonymous 
satirist. 

There  is  indeed  only  one  circumstance  which  in  any 
measure  stands  as  an  obstacle  in  the  way.  It  is  Job 
Throkmorton's  own  denial  of  the  identification.  He  says 
in  his  Defence — 

But  because,  Madame,  I  am  to  render  accompt  of  my  doings 
before  other  manner  of  men  then  Maister  Sutdiffe.  Seeing  an 
oth  (as  th'  Apostle  saieth)  ought  to  bee  th'  ende  of  all  strife,  I 
will  for  my  finall  clearing  heerin  (when  soeuer  it  shall  be  thought 

1  Op.  cit.  14-16.  2  See  above,  p.  210. 


308  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

so  good  by  the  State)  willinglie  take  this  oth,  as  I  haue  hereto- 
fore offered  ;  to  witte,  That  I  am  not  Martin,  I  knewe  not  Martin, 
And  concerning  that  I  stande  enlightened  of,  I  am  as  cleare  as  the 
child  unborne.1 

The  remark  of  Matthew  Sutcliffe  is  that  he  is  safe  to  offer 
to  take  such  an  oath  when  an  Act  of  Parliament  is  passed 
requiring  it.  But  our  own  interpretation  is  that  Throk- 
morton  is  referring  to  his  forthcoming  trial  at  the  Warwick 
Assizes.  But  the  question  cannot,  with  the  information 
at  present  at  our  disposal,  be  pushed  any  further.  The 
alternative  is  a  '  dark  horse  ' ;  a  clever  lawyer  about  Court, 
like  Knollys,  or  Morrice,  or  Beale;  who  was  the  writer  of 
the  Marprelate  quartos,  of  the  '  preamble '  to  the  THESES, 
and  of  the  PROTESTATYON  ;  who  mysteriously,  if  not 
magically,  conveyed  his  '  copy '  to  Throkmorton  and  Penry, 
and  induced  these  men,  at  great  risk,  to  get  them  printed ; 
yet  without  ever  disclosing  his  identity.  '  Martin  Junior ' 
would  then  be  Penry,  and  '  Martin  Senior '  be  Throkmorton. 
But  this  theory  also,  any  who  have  followed  our  narrative 
will  readily  admit,  is  not  without  its  great  difficulties.  All 
that  we  are  compelled  to  say  in  a  spirit  of  unprejudiced 
fairness  is,  that  the  identification  of  Job  Throkmorton  as 
Marprelate  is  not  complete ;  and  nothing  that  we  have 
been  able  to  adduce  positively  shuts  out  the  existence  of  a 
Great  Unknown,  or  makes  it  quite  incredible  that  the 
assumptions  of  '  Martin  Junior '  and  '  Martin  Senior '  and 
the  solemn  denial  of  Throkmorton,  are  in  agreement  with 
historic  fact.  We  await  the  lucky  discovery  of  the  next 
student  of  these  interesting  documents  to  set  our  perplexities 
at  rest. 

1   The  Defence  of  Job  Throkmorton  against  .  .   .  Maister  Sutcliffe ,  1594, 
sig.  E  ii.  (B.M.  4378,  c.  46). 


APPENDICES 

A.  A  CHRONOLOGY  OF  EVENTS,  1588-1590. 

B.  A  SELECT  MARPRELATE  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

C.  THE  EVIDENCE  OF  THE  PRINTERS,  HODGKINS,  SIMMS,  AND 

THOMLYN. 

I.  THE  EXAMINATION  OF  JOHN   HODGKINS  (Yelverton 
MSS.,  vol.  70,  f.  146). 

II.  THE    EXAMINATION    OF    VALENTINE    SIMMS    AND 
ARTHUR  THOMLYN  (Manchester  Papers,  No.  123). 


309 


APPENDIX    A 

A  CHEONOLOGY  OF  EVENTS 

[1588-1590] 

CHIEFLY    RELATING    TO    THE    MARPRELATE    TRACTS 

[1584.  A  Brief e  and  Plaine  Declaration  published.  Running  head- 
line, 'A  Learned  Discourse  of  Ecclesiastical  Govern- 
ment/ [?  W.  Fulke,  D.D.]  This  is  the  groundwork 
of  the  Marprelate  controversy.] 

[1584.  Dr.  John  Bridges,  Dean  of  Sarum,  preaches  at  Paul's 
Cross  against  A  Brief  e  and  Plaine  Declaration.] 

[1587.  A  Defence  of  the  Government  Established,  by  Dean  Bridges, 

published.     An  expansion  of  the  sermon,  1584. 
Two  brief  replies  quickly  appeared.     In  the  same  year : 
A  Defence  of  the  godlie  Ministers  (Dudley  Fenner),  and 
early  in  1588,  A  Defence  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Discipline, 
anon.] 

1588 

Feb.  — .  John  Field,  minister  of  Aldermanbury,  joint  author 
with  Thomas  Wilcox,  of  An  Admonition  to  Parlia- 
ment, 1572,  dies. 

March  13.  A  Petition  addressed  to  Elizabeth  by  the  Puritans  in 

London  prisons. — Harl.  MS.  5848.  13. 

„       18.  Henry  Barrowe,  the  Separatist,  examined  before  the 
Council  at  Whitehall. — Ibid. 

April  — .  A  Dialogue,  commonly  called  '  Diotrephes,'  by  John 
Udall,  minister  of  Kingston,  printed  in  London  by 
Robert  Waldegrave.  —  (See  Introd.  to  Prof.  E. 
Arber's  reprint.) 


312  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

April  16.  R.  Waldegrave's  house  at  the  sign  of  The  Crane  in 
St.  Paul's  Churchyard  searched  and  his  press,  etc., 
seized,  along  with  a  number  of  copies  of  Diotrephes. 
— (See  A  Dialogue,  wherein  is  plainly  laide  open 
[Lamb.  Pal.  Lib.  29.  9.  4],  sig.  B  iii.  vers.  ;  also 
In  trod,  to  Diotrephes,  Prof.  Arber's  reprint,  xii.) 
„  16.  John  Wolf  sent  by  the  Wardens  of  the  Stationers' 
Company  to  Croydon,  to  consult  Archbishop  Whit- 
gift  about  Waldegrave. — Arber's  Transcripts  of  the 
Stationers'  Registers,  i.  528. 

„  17.  Waldegrave  and  his  wife  bring  a  box  of  type,  which 
he  secreted  under  his  cloak  when  his  house  was 
raided,  to  Mrs.  Crane's  house  in  Aldermary. — 
Harl.  MS.  7042.  32. 

An  Exhortation  mto  the  gouernours  and  people  of  Wales, 
by  John  Penry,  printed  by  Waldegrave  towards 
the  close  of  the  month. 
May        6.  A    Godly   Treatise  concerning  the  Ministry,  by  Dr.  R. 

Some,  published. 

2nd  and  3rd  editions  of  Penry's  Exhortation  issued, 
with  brief  references  to  the  Godly  Treatise,  during 
the  second  week  in  May. 

„  13.  Robert  Waldegrave  enters  a  book,  title  to  be  supplied 
later,  at  the  Stationers'  Company. — Arber's  Tran- 
scripts, ii.  228. 

The  Court  of  the  Stationers'  Company  order  Walde- 
grave's press  and  type,  seized  on  April  16th,  to  be 
destroyed  and  made  unserviceable. — Typog.  Antiq. 
by  Ames,  ed.  by  Herbert,  ii.  1145. 
,,        29.  The  Spanish  Armada  sails  from  the  Tagus. 
June     10.  The  pursuivants  of  the  Stationers'  Company  go  to 
Kingston  in  search  of  Waldegrave's  press. — Arber's 
Transcripts,  i.  248,  249. 

—  John  Udall  of  Kingston  silenced. 

,,  25.  (dr.)  Mrs.  Waldegrave  calls  at  Mrs.  Crane's  house  at 
Aldermary  for  the  type  left  there  on  April  17th. 
—Harl.  MS.  7042.  32,  §  4. 

—  R.  Waldegrave  and  John  Penry  engaged  in  printing 

at  Mrs.  Crane's  house  at  East  Molesey  'about  3 
weeks  .  .  .  after  Midsommer.' — Harl.  MS.  7042. 
13,  §  5. 

„  30.  Archbishop  Whitgift  delegates  the  censorship  to  Dr 
Cosiri  and  seven  others,  '  or  any  one  of  them.' — 
Arber's  Introd.  Sketch,  51. 


APPENDIX  A  313 

July     12.  The    Spanish    Armada    sets    sail   from   the  Groine 

(Corunna). 
„        18.  Henry  Barrowe  examined    'at   the   courte   by    the 

Counsayle.'— Harl.  M.S.  6848.  13. 
,,  19-28.  The  Armada  sighted  off  the    Lizard.      A   running 

fight  maintained  by  the  English  as  it  advanced  up 

the  Channel.     The  Spanish  vessels  scattered  by 

Howard's  fire-ships. 
„        25.  John  Penry  'about  St.  Jamestide'  asks  Sir  Richard 

Knightley  of  Fawsley,  Northamptonshire,  to  house 

his  secret  press. — Hargrave's  State  Trials,  vii.  30. 
„        27.  Bishop  Wickham    of  Lincoln  makes  an  appeal  on 

behalf  of  Thomas  Thomas,  the  Cambridge  Puritan 

printer. — Lansd.  MS.  57.  74. 
The    Demonstration    of    Discipline    by    John    Udall 

printed    by  R.   Waldegrave   at   East   Molesey. — 

Lansd.  MS.  61.  68;  Harl.  MS.  7042.  33  (10). 
Aug.    — .  A  Defence  of  that  which  hath  bin  written  [replying  to 

the  1st  edition   of  Dr.   Some's  Godly  Treatise],  by 

John  Penry.      Printed  at  East   Molesey    by   R. 

Waldegrave.— Harl.  MS.  7042.  23. 
Sept.       4.  The  Earl  of  Leicester  dies. 
„          5.  At  All  Saints',  Northampton,  John   Penry  marries 

Eleanor,  daughter  of  Henry  Godley  of  that  town. 

— Hist,  of  the  Ch.  of  St.  Peter,  Northampton  by  R. 

M.  Sergeantson,  M.A.,  p.  35  n. 
„        15.  (dr.)  John  Udall  and  Stephen  Chatfield,  vicar,  confer 

in  a  field    near    Kingston.       Udall    threatens    to 

write   if   the  Bishops  silence    him.  —  Harl.    MS. 

7042.  4. 
„       19.  A    Godly  Treatise,  by   Dr.  R.  Some,   issued  with  a 

second  part,  replying  to  Penry's  Exhortation  and 

Defence. 
„        1 9.  Anatomie  of  Absurdities,  by  Thomas  Nashe,  entered  in 

the    Stationers'    Register. — Arber's    Transcripts,    ii. 

499. 
„        29.  (dr.)  John  Penry  and  R.  Waldegrave  at  East  Molesey, 

'occupied   about   ye   printing    of   a  Booke  about 

Michaelmas.'— Harl.  MS.  7042.  32  (6). 
Parliamentary  opposition  offered  to  the  High  Com- 
mission.    Lord  Grey  delivers  a  speech  against  the 

action  of  the  Bishops. — Lives  of  the  Puritans,  by  N. 

Brook,  i.  54. 
Oct.        7.  Bishop  Scambler  of  Norwich  condemns  Francis  Kett 


314  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

for   Heresy.      (Afterwards  burnt.)  —  Lansd.  MS. 
57.  75. 

Oct.  15.  (dr.)  Marprelate's  EPISTLE  (to  a  promised  'Epitome' 
of  Dean  Bridges'  Defence)  issued  at  East  Molesey. 
— See  Hist.  Introd. 

R.  Waldegrave  sees  Sir  Richard  Knightley  at  a 
'  muster '  at  Northampton,  about  the  removal  of 
the  secret  press  to  Fawsley. — Harl.  MS.  7042. 
23  (/). 

Nov.  1.  Mrs.  Crane  arriving  at  her  house  at  East  Molesey  at 
'  Hallowmas '  finds  the  press  has  been  removed. — 
Harl.  MS.  7042.  33. 

„  1.  Sir  Richard  Knightley,  after  his  talk  with  Penry  at 
St.  Jamestide,  first  hears  of  the  secret  press  at 
'  Allhallowtide.'— State  Trials,  ed.  by  C.  Hargrave, 
vii.  30. 

„  1.  A  man  staying  at  Northampton  visits  Fawsley 
House.  He  sees  R.  Waldegrave  and  obtains 
some  of  the  Libells  newly  printed  [Marprelate's 
EPISTLE].— Lansd.  MS.  61.  68.  (See  entry  Feb. 
1st,  1589.) 

„  13-14.  The  Queen  directs  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  the  Lord 
High  Treasurer  to  write  to  Archbishop  Whitgift 
requesting  the  High  Commission  to  search  for 
the  'author  and  abettors  of  a  seditious  book 
against  the  ecclesiastical  government '  (Lord 
Burleigh's  letter  is  dated  Nov.  14th). — Strype's 
Whitgift  (Oxf.  1822),  i.  551. 

„  14.  Lawrence  Jackson,  keeper  of  Fawsley  House,  stated 
that  about  this  date  the  secret  press  arrived. 
First  Penry  came  bearing  Sir  Richard's  gimmal- 
ring  as  his  credential.  Jeffs,  of  Upton,  followed 
with  the  'stuffe.'  (This  evidence,  given  more 
than  a  year  after  the  event,  is  probably  wrong  by 
some  days.)— Harl.  MS.  7042.  1. 

„  14.  An  inquiry  is  held  at  Kingston-on-Thames  into  the 
circulation  of  Marprelate's  EPISTLE  in  the  town. — 
Harl.  MS.  6849.  157,  159. 

„  15.  Francis  Thynne,  writing  to  Lord  Burghley,  alludes  to 
the  'foolish  sons'  of  Marprelate. — S.  P.  Dom.  23. 

„  24.  The  Queen  attends  a  Te  Deum  at  St.  Paul's,  after  the 
defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada. 

„  27-30.  Completed  copies  of  Marprelate's  EPITOME  despatched 
to  London. — See  Hist.  Introd. 


APPENDIX  A  315 

The  Episcopal  pursuivants  rifle  Waldegrave's  house, 
breaking  through  the  main  wall.  —  HAY  ANY 
WORKE  FOR  COOPER,  41. 

Nov.  29.  Inquiry  held  at  Eichmond.  Walter  Kogers  relates 
rumours  concerning  Jno.  Udall,  —  Harl.  MS. 
7042.  15. 

Dec.  6.  Giles  Wigginton,  minister  of  Sedburgh,  Yorks,  is 
examined  by  the  Archbishop  at  a  Court  of  High 
Commission  sitting  at  Lambeth.  He  is  questioned 
about  THE  EPISTLE  and  THE  EPITOME.  —  Second 
Parte  of  a  Register  (MS.  Dr.  Williams'  Lib.), 
843  ff. 

„  25.  (dr.)  E.  Waldegrave  comes  to  Sir  E.  Knightley  to 
obtain  the  press  to  print  Cartwright's  book  against 
the  Jesuits.  (Sir  Eichard's  evidence,  Feb.  13, 
1590).-—Sfofe  Trials  (Hargrave's  ed.),  vii.  30. 


1589 

Jan.  1.  Henry  Barrowe  examined  at  the  Fleet  by  Justice 
Young,  Dr.  Some,  etc.,  about  his  critical  notes 
written  in  the  margin  of  his  copy  of  Dr.  Some's 
Godly  Treatise.— Karl.  MS.  6848.  28a. 
The  Reformed  Politicke,  by  John  Fregeville,  published. 
[Dedication  dated  'From  London  this  12.  of 
December  1588';  title-page  dated  '1589.'] 

„  9.  Pursuivants  engaged  for  two  days  searching  for   a 

'suspected  presse.' — Arber's  Transcripts,  i.  248. 

„  9.  (dr.)  Stephen  Gifford,  servant  to  Sir  Eichard  Knight- 

ley,  takes  the  press  from  Fawsley  to  a  farm  on  the 
estate  at  Norton,  'about  2  or  3  dayes  after 
Twelve-tide ' ;  where  it  remained  unused  '  about  a 
fortnight.'— Harl.  MS.  7042.  2. 

„  10.  An  Admonition  to  the  People  of  England,  by  T[homas] 
Cfooper]  (Bishop  of  Winchester).  The  official 
reply  to  Martin  Marprelate.  Entered  this  date  at 
Stationers'  Hall.— Arber's  Mrod.  Sketch,  139. 

„  29.  The  Archbishop's  pursuivants  raid  Jno.  Penry's 
study,  at  Henry  Godley's  house  at  Northampton. 
They  find  there  a  copy  of  Udall's  Demonstration  of 
Discipline,  and  the  MS.  of  a  reply  to  the  enlarged 
edition  of  Some's  Godly  Treatise. — See  Penry's 
Appellation,  6,  7.  For  the  correct  year,  see  art.  in 
The  Library,  by  J.  D.  Wilson,  Oct.  1907. 


316  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

The  press  removed  from  Norton-by-Daventry  to  the 
White  Friars,  the  house  of  John  Hales  at  Coventry, 
at  the  close  of  this  month  or  early  in  February. 
— See  Hist.  Introd. 

Feb.        1.  Dr.  John  Piers  elected  Archbishop  of  York.     The 
see  vacant  since  July  10th,  1588. 

„  1.  Man  staying  at  Northampton  a  second    time  visits 

Fawsley,  and  obtains  copies  of  the  c  newly-printed 
Libell '  [THE  EPITOME]. — See  entry  and  ref.  ante, 
Nov.  1,  1588. 

„  4.  Elizabeth's  seventh  Parliament  opened. 

„  9.  Dr.   R.  Bancroft  preached  a   sermon  at  St.  Paul's 

Cross  on  'The  Trying  of  Spirits,'  in  which  he 
denounces  'Martin'  and  all  schismatics.  [The 
printed  Sermon  was  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall, 
Mar.  3rd.] 

„  13.  A  Proclamation  issued  in  the  Queen's  name  against 
'  schismatical  and  seditious  books,  defamatory 
libels,  and  other  fantastical  writings.' — Card  well's 
Docum.  Annals,  ii.  18. 

,,  15.  Nicholas  Tomkins,  servant  to  Mrs.  Crane,  examined 
before  Dr.  Cosin  at  Lambeth.— Harl.  MS.  7042.  13. 

„        20.  (dr.)  Marprelate's  MINERALL   AND    METAPHYSICAL 
SCHOOLPOINTS  issued  from  the  press  at  Coventry. 
—Harl.  MS.  7042.  13. 
March    7.  John    Penry's  Appellation  written   (not  printed)  at 

this  date. 

Stephen  Gifford,  servant  to  Sir  Richard  Knightley, 
goes  to  Coventry  for  a  copy  of  a  new  *  Martin/ 
and  finds  it  is  not  out  of  the  printers'  hands. — 
Harl.  MS.  7042.  13  (v).  'This  booke  was  about 
3  weekes  in  printing.' — Ibid. 

„  9.  John  Penry's  Viewe  of  some  part  of  such  Publike  Wants, 
commonly  called  from  its  running  headline,  The 
Supplication,  printed  at  Coventry. — Harl.  MS. 
7042.  13  (t). 

„       22.  Marprelate's  HAY  ANY  WORKE  FOR  COOPER  printed 
at  Coventry.     200  copies  stitched  by  Waldegrave 
and  sent  to  London. — Harl.  MS.  7042.  13  (w). 
„       23.  Humfrey  Newman  (the  Cobbler)  brings  700  copies 
in  sheets  of  HAY  ANY  WORKE  from  Coventry  to 
Northampton,  to  be  stitched  by  Henry  Sharpe,  the 
bookbinder. — Ibid. 
„       25.  (?)  John  Penry  arid  Robert  Waldegrave  meet  at  Job 


APPENDIX   A  317 

Throkmorton's  house  at  Haseley,  after  the  com- 
pletion of  HAY  ANY  WORKE. — Matt.  Sutcliffe's 
Answer  to  Job  ThroL,  70  vers. 

March  30.  (dr.)  Sir  Richard  Knightley's  man  in  a  London 
tavern  talks  about  the  printing  of  Marprelate's 
books  at  Fawsley,  and  of  the  agent  for  the 
receiving  and  despatch  of  goods  living  near  West 
Smithfield.— Lansd.  MS.  61.  68.  [Easter  Day, 
1589  =  March  30.] 

„  -  Stephen  Gifford,  Sir  Richard  Knightley's  confidential 
man,  was  sent  *  about  this  time '  out  of  the  way 
for  a  season.— Harl.  MS.  7042.  23  (x). 

,  -  Jno.  Hodgkins,  called  a  '  saltpeterman,'  informed 
Henry  Sharpe  that  he  had  replaced  Waldegrave  as 
Marprelate  printer,  and  had  a  press,  and  invited 
Sharpe  to  go  with  him  '  into  the  north '  to  assist : 
this  was  '  aboute  Easter.'  [The  actual  date  must 
have  been  later.  See  the  narrative  in  the  Hist. 
Mrod.} — Lansd.  MS.  61.  68  vers.  [See  entry 
below,  May  (end)  1589.] 

April  1-6.  Waldegrave,  dining  at  H.  Sharpe's  father-in-law's 
house  at  Wolston,  in  '  Easter  week,'  tells  Sharpe 
that  he  had  resigned  his  post  as  Marprelate's 
printer.— Harl.  MS.  7042.  23  (x). 

„  26.  Dr.  Andrew  Perne,  Master  of  Peterhouse,  dies  while 
visiting  Archbishop  Whitgift  at  Lambeth. — See  ref . 
in  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND  REPROOFE,  sig.  C  ii. 

May  3.  Aid.  Sir  Richard  Martin  elected  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  on  the  sudden  death  of  Sir  Martin 
Calthorp. 

„  18.  John  Penry  reports  having  heard  that  Waldegrave, 
the  printer,  is  at  Rochelle. — Harl.  MS.  7042. 
23  (z). 

,,  24.  Dr.  Some's  Godly  Treatise  (against  Barrowe  and 
Greenwood)  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall. — Arber's 
Introd.  Sketch,  140. 

„  -  John  Penry,  'a  little  after  Whitsontide,'  May  18, 
according  to  H.  Sharpe's  evidence,  reports  John 
Hodgkins'  willingness  to  supply  Waldegrave's 
place.— Harl.  MS.  7042.  23  (x).  [See  entry 
above,  March  30.] 

„  -  Mar  Martine.     7  pp.  in  rhyme  ;  published  about  the 

end  of  this  month. 

June       9.  Dr.  Matt.  Huttori  made  Bishop  of  Durham. 


3i8  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

June    20.  Lord  Burghley  intercedes  with  Bishop  Rowland  of 

Peterborough  on  behalf  of  Robert  Browne. 
Thomas  Nash  leaves  Cambridge  University. — Cooper's 

Ath.  Cantab,  ii.  306. 

,,  24.  (dr.)  Humfrey  Newman,  c  about  Midsommer,'  tries  to 
induce  H.  Sharpe  to  go  '  into  the  Northe '  to  make 
up  the  books  which  Hodgkins  should  print. 
— Lansd.  MS.  61.  68  vers. 

„  —  John  Hodgkins  tells  Sharpe  at  Northampton  that  he 
'  had  sent  a  Press  into  the  North/  and  asks  if  he 
will  help  him,  should  he  need  help,  with  a  '  stampe 
of  Accidents'  [a  jobbing-press]. — Harl.  MS.  7042. 
23  (cc). 

July  3.  Anti  Martinus — a  Latin  pamphlet  addressed  to  the 
youth  of  the  Universities,  entered  at  Stationers' 
Hall.— Arber's  Sketch,  140. 

„  10.  Jno.  Hodgkins  and  his  assistants,  Val.  Simms  and 
Arthur  Thomlyn,  meet  Humfrey  Newman  and 
agree  to  go  to  the  Midlands  to  print  Marprelate's 
writings. — Manchester  Papers,  123  (A). 

„  13.  The  printers  reach  the  house  of  Val.  Simms'  father 
at  Adderbury,  Oxf. — Ibid. 

„  22.  THESES  MARTINIAN^E  ('Martin  Junior')  printed  at 
Wolston.— Ibid.  (J). 

„        29.  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND  REPROOFE  ('  Martin  Senior ') 
printed  at  Wolston.     The  printers  with  the  appara- 
tus leave  the  same  night  for  Warrington. — Ibid.  (0). 
Aug.       1.  The  printers  arrive  at  Warrington. — Ibid.  (P). 

,,  4.  The  cart  conveying  the  press  and  letters  reaches 
Warrington .  — Ibid. 

„  8.  A  Counter cuffe  to  Martin  Junior  by  Pasquill  of  England 
published. 

„  11.  The  printers  arrive  at  Manchester  from  Warrington  and 
commence  their  work. — Manchester  Papers,  123  (Q). 

„  14.  The  printers  are  arrested  by  the  Earl  of  Derby's  men, 
having  commenced  printing  MORE  WORK  FOR  THE 
COOPER. — Ibid. 

„  18.  The  printers  leave  for  London  in  charge  of  the 
Sheriffs  officers.— See  Hist.  Mr. 

„  24  (Sunday).  Arriving  in  London  the  previous  day, 
Hodgkins,  Simms,  and  Thomlyn  are  examined  by 
Council  and  sent  to  Bridewell. — Acts  of  the 
P.  Council,  54. 

„         —  Archbishop  Whitgift,  having  received  particulars  of 


APPENDIX   A  319 

the  seizure  of  the  printers,  writes  to  Lord  Burleigh 
concerning  their  trial. — Lansd.  MS.  61.  3. 

Aug.  —  John  Penry  and  Sharpe,  the  Bookbinder,  hear  at 
Wolston  of  the  seizure  of  the  printers  at  Man- 
chester.—Harl.  MS.  7042.  23  (kk). 

Sept.  2.  The  Queen  desires  Lord  Burleigh  thoroughly  to 
persevere  in  the  examination  of  Martin  Marprelate. 
—S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz.  226  (4). 

„  11.  (dr.)  John  Hodgkins  sent  to  the  Tower  to  be 
tortured.— Ibid.  227  (37);  Yelverton  MSS.  70. 
146. 

,  „       15.  (dr.)    THE    PROTESTATYON  —  the    last    Marprelate 
Tract.      Printed  probably  at  Wolston,  about  the 
middle  of  Sept. — See  Hist.  Introd. 
„       —    John  Penry  at  this  time  is  hiding  at  an  inn  in  the 

Midlands.—  Sutcliffe's  Answer  to  Job  Throk.  73. 
Oct.  (early).  John   Penry,   on   his  way   to   Scotland,  calls  upon 
John   Udall   at   Newcastle-on-Tyne. — Wall's  New 
Discovery,  quoted  by  Arber,  Sketch,  172. 

„  „  A  Whip  for  an  Ape  published.  An  edition  of  the 
same  work  bears  the  title  Rhythmes  against  Martin 
Marre-Prelate. 

„  15.  Henry  Sharpe  makes  his  deposition  before  Lord 
Chancellor  Hatton. — Harl.  MS.  7042.  23.  Printed 
in  full  in  Arber's  Sketch,  94  ff. 

„        20.  The  Return  ofPasguill  [T.  Nash]  published. 
„        24.  John  Hodgkins    ordered   to   be    removed  from  the 
Tower  to  the  Marshalsea  prison. — S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz. 
227  (37). 

Nov.  6.  Lord  Mayor  Hart  replies  to  Lord  Burleigh  about  the 
prohibition  of  stage  plays  within  the  city. — Lansd. 
MS.  60.  (Printed  as  a  note  in  Petheram's  edition 
of  Pappe  with  an  Hatchet,  48.) 

„  -    Pappe  with  an  Hatchet  []  John  Lyly]  published. 

„        16.  Sir  Richard  Knightley,  John  Hales  of  Coventry,  and 
Roger  Wigston  of  Wolston  in  the  Fleet  prison. 
—Acts  of  the  P.  Council,  1589-1590,  p.  398. 
Martins  Months  Mind  published. — See  Hist.  Introd. 
„        29.  The    second    exam,   of  Nich.    Tomkins,    servant    to 

Mrs.  Crane.— Harl.  MS.  7042.  32. 

Dec.      10.  Final  exam,  of  V.  Simms  and  A.  Thomlyn,  assistants 
to  John  Hodgkins,   before  the  Lord  Chancellor. 
— Manchester  Papers,  123. 
—  Marre  Mar- Martin. — See  Hist.  Introd. 


320  THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Dec.  22.  A  Myrror  for  Martinists.  T.  Turswell.  Entered  at 
Stationers'  Hall. — Arber's  Sketch,  140.  (Dated  on 
title-page  1590.) 

„  -  M.  Some  in  his  Coulers  [Job  Throkmorton]  published. 

„         —  A  Dialogue  wherin  is  plainly  laide  open  published. 


1590 

Jan.  9.  John  Udall  reaches  London  from  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
in  charge  of  the  pursuivants. — Wall's  New  Discovery, 
cited  in  Arber's  Sketch,  169. 

„  13.  Udall  examined  at  Lord  Cobham's  house  at  Black- 
friars  and  sent  to  the  Gatehouse  prison  (West- 
minster).—^^ Trials  (ed.  1719),  i.  144,  5. 
„  19.  A  Friendly  Admonicion  to  Martin  Marprelate,  by 
Leonard  Wright,  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall. 
—Arber's  Sketch,  141. 

Feb.  1 3.  The  trial  of  Sir  Richard  Knightley,  John  Hales,  Roger 
Wigston,  and  Mrs.  Wigston  for  complicity  in  the 
printing  of  the  Marprelate  Tracts. — State  Trials 
(ed.  1778,  C.  Hargrave),  vii.  29. 

March  (early).  An  Almond  for  a  Parrat  [anon.]  published. 

„  1 3.  R.  Waldegrave  prints  at  Edinburgh  *  The  Confession 
of  Faith,'  by  the  authorisation  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Council.  See  imprint  on  the  verso  of  the  title- 
page. 

April  -  Waldegrave  prints  in  Scotland  John  Penry's  Reforma- 
tion no  Enemie.  [Dated  1590 ;  therefore  probably 
subsequent  to  March  25th.] 

May  16.  English  ambassador  at  Edinburgh  complains  to  the 
King  that  Penry  is  in  his  realm  publishing  books 
against  the  government  of  England. — S.  P.  Scot, 
(Eliz.\  1590,  vol.  45,  No.  44. 

June  —  John  Udall  removed  to  the  White  Lion  prison,  South- 
wark. — Peirce's  Vindic.  132. 

July       2.  First  Parte  of  Pasquills  Apologie  [T.  Nash]  published. 
„          8.  John  Hodgkins   removed    from   the   Tower    to    the 

Marshalsea. — Acts  of  the  P.  Council,  55. 
,,        13.  Udall  again  examined  about  'the  books.' — Harl.  MS. 

6849.  164  ;  given  by  Arber,  Sketch,  88. 

„        24.  Udall,    laden    with    heavy    fetters,    appears    before 
Serjeant    Puckering    at    Croydon. — State    Trials 
(1719),  i.  147. 
„  -  Nicholas  Tomkins,  Mrs.  Crane's  servant,  beyond  the 


APPENDIX  A  321 

sea  at  this  time.     Neal's  History  of  the  Puritans, 
i.  409. 

Aug.  1.  English  ambassador  at  Edinburgh  reports  that  the 
King  has  ordered  the  expulsion  of  John  Penry 
from  his  realm.  S.  P.  Scot.  (Eliz.),  1590,  vol.  46, 
No.  22. 

„  6.  The  Privy  Council  of  Scotland  issue  writ  banishing 
John  Penry  from  the  realm.  Reg.  of  P.  C.  Scotland, 
vol.  iv.  pp.  517,  518. 

Sept.  1.  Thomas  Cartwright  imprisoned  in  the  Fleet;  charged 
with  knowing  the  author  and  printer  of  the 
Marprelate  Tracts.  Neal's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans, 
i.  416  (Fuller's  Hist.  bk.  ix.  §  23,  ed.  Nichols, 
vol.  iii.  p.  120). 

Oct.  4.  T.  Cartwright  writes  Lord  Burleigh  disavowing  all 
sympathy  with  the  Marprelate  Tracts.  Strype's 
Whitgifi,  iii.  232. 

„  14.  Job  Throkmorton  appeals  to  Lord  Chancellor  Hatton 
for  favour,  after  the  'indyghtment  lately  found 
against  [him].'  Manchester  Papers. 

Nov.  20.  Ambassador  at  Edinburgh  informs  Lord  Burleigh 
that  he  has  communicated  to  King  James  the 
surprise  felt  in  England  that  Penry  and  Walde- 
grave  are  allowed  to  remain  in  Scotland.  The 
King  thinks  Penry  has  departed,  and  promises 
that  Waldegrave  shall  only  print  in  future  under 
permission.  S.  P.  Scot.  (Eliz.),  vol.  46,  No.  64. 

Dec.  18.  Ambassador  at  Edinburgh  to  Burleigh.  The  King 
tells  him  that  he  is  credibly  informed  that  Penry 
has  left  Scotland,  but  that  his  wife  remains  at 
Edinburgh  supported  by  the  benevolence  of  friends. 
Also  that  Waldegrave  has  been  appointed  royal 
printer.  S.  P.  Scot.  (Eliz.),  vol.  46,  No.  73. 


APPENDIX  B 

A  SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  MARPRELATE 
CONTROVERSY 

The  short  titles,  by  which  the  seven  Marprelatc  Tracts  were  commonly  known, 
are  given  in  capitals 

1584 

1.  A  BRIEFE  and  plaine  declaration,  concerning  the  desires  of 
all  those  faithfull  Ministers,  that  haue  and  do  seeke  for  the 
Discipline  and  reformation  of  the  Church  of  Englande.  Which 
may  seme  for  a  just  Apologie,  against  the  false  accusations  and 
slanders  of  their  aduersaries.  London,  R.  Waldegraue,  1584. 
Pp.  vi. +  148.  8vo. 

(Running  headline,  'A  Learned  Discourse  of  Ecclesiasticall 
Government.') 

B.M.  press -mark  —  702.  a.  38.  Reputed  author,  W. 
Fulke,  D.D. 

1587 

2.  A  Defence  of  the  government  established  in  the  Chvrch 
of  Englande  for  ecclesiasticall  matters.  Contayning  an  answere 
vnto  a  Treatise  called  The  Learned  Discourse  of  Ecd.  Gouernment, 
otherwise  intituled,  A  briefe  and  plaine  declaration,  etc.  Com- 
prehending likewise  an  answer  to  the  arguments  in  a  Treatise 
named  The  iudgement  of  a  most  Eeuerend  and  Learned  man  from 
beyond  the  Seas,  etc.  Answering  also  the  argumentes  of  Caluine, 
Beza  and  Danaeus,  with  other  our  Reuerend  learned  Bretheren, 
besides  Csenales  and  Bodinus,  both  for  the  regiment  of  women, 
and  in  defence  of  her  Maiestie,  and  of  all  other  Christian  Princes 
supreme  Gouernment  in  Ecclesiasticall  causes,  Against  The 
Tetrarchie  that  our  Brethren  would  erect  in  euery  particular 
congregation,  of  Doctors,  Pastors,  Gouernors  and  Deacons,  with 
their  seuerall  and  joynt  authoritie  in  Elections,  Excommunica- 
tions, Synodall  Constitutions  and  other  Ecclesiasticall  matters. 

322 


APPENDIX  B  323 

Answered  by  John  Bridges,  Deane  of  Sarum.     London,  1587. 
Pp.  viii.  +  1402,  fol.     Black  letter. 
B.M.— 1353.  f.  1. 

3.  A  Defence  of  the  godlie  Ministers,  against  the  slaunders 
of  D.  Bridges,  contayned  in  his  ansvvere  to  the  Preface  before 
the  Discourse  of  Ecclesiasticall  gouernement,  with  a  Declaration 
of  the  Bishops  preceding  against  them,  etc.       1587.     Pp.  iv.  + 
103  (pagination  only  begins  with  p.  49).     8vo. 

B.M. — 111.  a.  27.     (Reprinted  in  A  parte  of  a  Register  with 
Dudley  Tenner's  name  as  author.) 

1588 

4.  A  Defence  of   the   Ecclesiastical   Discipline  ordayned  of 
God  to  be  vsed  in  his  Church,  Against  a  Replie  of  Maister 
Bridges,   to  a  briefe   and  plain  Declaration  of  it,   which  was 
printed  An.   1584.     Which  replie  he  termeth,  A  Defence,  etc. 
1588.     Pp.  128.     4to. 

B.M.— 111.  a.  27. 

5.  [THE  EPISTLE.]     Oh  read  ouer  D.  John  Bridges  |  for  it  is 
a  worthy  worke  :     Or  an  epitome  of  the  fyrste  Booke  of  that 
right  worshipfull  volume  |  written  against  the  Puritanes  |  in  the 
defence  of  the  noble  cleargie  |  by  as  worshipfull  a  prieste  |  John 
Bridges  |  Presbyter  |  Priest  or  elder  |  doctor  of  Diuillitie  |  and 
Dean  of  Sarum.     Wherein  the  arguments  of  the  puritans  are 
wisely  prevented  |  that  when  they  come  to  answer  M.  Doctor  | 
they  must  needes  say  something  that  hath  bene  spoken.     Com- 
piled for  the  behoofe  and  overtherthrow  of  the  Parsons  |  Fyckers 

|  and  Curats  that  have  lernt  their  Catechismes  |  and  are  past 
grace :  By  the  reverend  and  worthie  Martin  Marprelate 
gentleman  |  and  dedicated  to  the  Confocationhouse.  The 
Epitome  is  not  yet  published  |  but  it  shall  be  when  the  Byshops 
are  at  conuenient  leysure  to  view  the  same.  In  the  meane  time 

|  let  them  be  content  with  this  learned  Epistle.  Printed  over- 
sea |  in  Europe  |  within  two  furlongs  of  a  Bouncing  Priest  |  at 
the  cost  and  charges  of  M.  Marprelate  |  gentleman. 

[East  Molesey,  October  1588.]     Pp.  54.     4to.     Black  letter. 
B.M. — 224.  b.  8.     Keprints  by  Petheram,  1843,  and  Arber, 
1880. 

6.  [THE  EPITOME.]     Oh  read  ouer  D.  John  Bridges  |  for  it 
is  worthy  worke  :     Or  an  epitome  of  the  fyrste  Booke  |  of  that 
right  worshipfull  volume  |  written  against    the    Puritanes  |  in 
the  defence  of  the  noble  cleargie  |  by  as  worshipfull  a  prieste  | 
John  Bridges  |  Presbyter  |  Priest  or  elder  |  doctor  of  Diuillitie 


324  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

|  and  Deane  of  Sarum.  Wherein  the  arguments  of  the  puritans 
are  wisely  prevented  |  that  when  they  come  to  answere  M. 
Doctor  |  they  must  needes  say  some  thing  that  hath  bene 
spoken.  Compiled  for  the  behoofe  and  overthrow  of  the  vn- 
preaching  Parsons  |  Fyckers  |  and  Currats  |  that  haue  lernt 
their  Catechismes  |  and  are  past  grace  :  By  the  reverend  and 
worthie  Martin  Marprelat  gentleman  and  dedicated  by  a  second 
Epistle  to  the  Terrible  Priests.  In  this  Epitome  the  foresaide 
Fickers  |  etc,  are  very  insufficiently  furnished  with  notable 
inabilitie  of  most  vincible  reasons  |  to  answere  the  cauill  of  the 
Puritanes.  And  lest  M.  Doctor  should  thinke  that  no  man  can 
write  without  sence  but  his  selfe  |  the  senceles  titles  of  the 
seueral  pages  |  and  the  handling  of  the  matter  throughout  the 
Epitome  |  shewe  plainley  |  that  beetleheaded  ignoraunce  must 
not  Hue  and  die  with  him  alone.  Printed  on  the  other  hand  of 
some  of  the  Priests.  [Fawsley,  November  1588].  Sig.  A— G 
i.  vers.  4  to.  Black  letter.  Reprinted  by  Petheram,  1843. 
B.M.— C.  25.  f.  1. 


1589 

7.  An  Admonition  to  the  people  of  England  :     Wherein  are 
answered,  not  onely  the  slaunderous   vntruethes,  reprochfully 
vttered  by  Martin  the  Libeller,  but  also  many  other  Crimes  by 
some  of  his  broode,  obiected  generally  against  all  Bishops,  and 
the  chiefe  of  the  Cleargie,  purposely  to  deface  and  discredite 
the  present  state  of  the  Church.     London,  1589. 

(1)  Orig.  ed.  numbered  on  last  p.   252.     Pagination  irreg.; 
actual  pp.  266.     Withdrawn  and  corrected  by  cancel-slips  in  two 
cases.     Print  measures  14 '9  x  8*2  cm. 

(2)  Second  ed.  with  slight  variations.     Pp.  245  ;  size  15*6  x 
8-7  cm. 

(3)  Third  ed.  with  typographical  variations.     Pp.  244 ;  size 
15'5  x  8'8  cm. 

Press -marks:  (1)  Lambeth  Pal.  Lib.  —  xxx.  6.  27.  (2) 
B.M.— 701.  g.  31.  (3)  B.M.— C.  37.  d.  38.  Reprints  by 
Petheram,  1847,  and  Arber,  1882. 

The  initials  at  the  close  of  the  epistle  '  To  the  Reader '  are 
those  of  T[homas]  C[ooper],  Bishop  of  Winchester,  though  con- 
founded at  the  time  with  the  celebrated  initials  of  Thomas 
Cartwright,  the  writer  of  a  celebrated  Admonition. 

8.  [THE  MINERALLS.]     Certaine  Minerall  and  Metaphisicall 
Schoolpoints  |  to  be  defended  by  the  reverende  Bishops  |  and 
the  rest  of  my  cleargie  masters  of  the  Convocation  house  | 


APPENDIX  B  325 

against  both  the  universities  |  and  al  the  reformed  Churches  in 
Christendome.  Wherein  is  layd  open  |  the  very  Quintessence 
of  all  Catercorner  divinitie.  And  with  all  |  to  the  preuenting 
of  the  Cauels  of  those  wrangling  Puritans  |  the  persons  by  whom 
and  the  places  where  there  miseries  are  so  worthely  mainetayned 
|  are  for  the  most  part  |  plainely  set  downe  to  the  view  of  all 
men  |  and  that  to  the  ternall  prayse  of  the  most  reverend 
Fathers.  [Coventry,  dr.  Feb.  20,  1589.]  A  broadside  in  Black 
letter.  Measures  12  J  x  9|  in.  Unique  copy  in  Lamb.  Pal. 
Lib.— xxx.  6.  24  (7). 

9.  [HAY  ANY  WORKE]. — Hay  any  worke  for  Cooper  :  Or  a 
brief  e  Pistle  directed  by  Waye  of  an  hubli cation  to  the  reverende 
Byshopps  |  counselling  them  |  if  they  will  needs  be  barrelled  vp 
|  for  feare  of  smelling  in  the  nostrels  of  her  Maiestie  and  the 
State  |  that  they  would  vse  the  aduise  of  reuerend  Martin  |  for 
the  prouiding  of  their  Cooper.  Because  the  reuerend  T.  C.  (by 
which  misticall  letters  |  is  vnderstood,  eyther  the  bounsing 
Parson  of  Eastmeane  |  or  Tom  Coakes  his  Chaplaine) l  to  bee  an 
vnskilfull  and  a  beceytfull  tubtrimmer. 

Wherein  worthy  Martin  quits  himselfe  like  a  man  I  warrant 

you  |  in  the  modest  defence  of  his  selfe  and  his  learned  Pistles 

|  and  makes  the  Coopers  hoopes  to  flye  off  |  and  the  Bishops 

Tubs  to  leake  out  of  all  crye.     Penned  and  compiled  by  Martin 

the  Metropolitane. 

Printed  in  Europe  |  not  far  from  some  of  the  Bounsing 
Priestes. 

[Coventry,  dr.  March  22,  1589.]  Sig.  A-B  i.  vers.  +  pp.  1- 
48.  4to.  B.L. 

B.M.— 225.  a.  33. 

Two  Commonwealth  reprints  of  this  tract  were  published. 

(1)  This  has  the  fresh  title — 

Reformation  no  enemie  Or  a  true  Discourse,  betweene  the 
Bishops  and  the  Desirers  of  Eeformation  :  Wherein  Is  plainely 
laid  open  the  present  corrupt  government  of  our  Church  and 
the  desired  forme  of  Government  plainely  proved  by  the  word 
of  God.  Prov.  24.  vers.  21.  Printed  in  the  yeare  1641.  The 
running  title  is  '  Hay  any  Worke  for  Cooper.' 

B.M.— 4103.  cc.  3. 

(2)  Hay  any  Worke,  etc.     An  exact  reprint.     1642. 
B.M.— E.  141  (22).     Reprinted  by  Petheram,  1845. 

1  In  '  Falts  escaped '  at  the  close  of  the  tracts  we  have  the  following 
instruction  :  '  Tytle  line  ten  |  read  |  Chaplaine  hath  showed  in  his  late 
Admonition  to  the  people  of  England  to  be  |  etc. ' 


326  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

10.  Mar-Martine. 

I  know  not  why  a  trueth  in  rime  set  out 
Maie  not  as  wel  mar  Mar  tine  and  his  mates 
As  shamelesse  lies  in  prose-books  cast  about 
Marpriests,  and  prelates,  and  subvert  whole  states 
For  where  truth  builds  and  lying  overthrows 
One  truth  in  rime  is  worth  ten  lies  in  prose. 

[About  the  end  of  May  1589.]  Pp.  7  of  doggerel  verse,  in 
various  metres ;  one  section  in  Scotch  dialect.  4to  of  irregular 
size. 

B.M. — 96.  b.  15.     This  copy  is  badly  cropped. 

Lamb.  Pal.  Lib. — xxx.  6.  26  (5).     An  almost  perfect  copy. 

11.  Antimartinus.     1589. 

4to.     Latin  pamphlet ;  pp.  40.     Signed  at  close,  A.  L.     Ent. 
at  Stat.  Hall,  July  3rd. 
B.M.— 4103.  bb.  12. 

12.  [MARTIN    JUNIOR.]      Theses    Martinianae:      That    is, 
Certaine  Demonstrative  Conclusions,  sette  downe  and  collected 
(as  it  should  seeme)  by  that  famous  and  renowmed  Clarke,  the 
reuerend  Martin  Marprelate  the  great :   seruing  as  a  manifest 
and  sufficient  confutation  of  al  that  euer  the  Colledge  of  Cater- 
caps  with  their  whole  band  of  Clergie-priests,  haue,  or  canbring 
for  the  defence  of  their  ambitious  and  Antichristian  Prelacie. 
Published  and  set  foorth  as  an  after-birth  of  the  noble  Gentle- 
man himselfe,  by  a  pretty  stripling  of  his,  Martin  Junior,  and 
dedicated  by  him  to  his  good  neame  and  nuncka,  Maister  John 
Kankerbury  :     How  the  young  man  came  by  them,  the  Reader 
shall  understande  sufficiently  in  the  Epilogue.     In  the  meane 
time,  vvhosoeuer  can  bring  mee  acquainted  with  my  father,  He 
bee    bounde    hee    shall  not  lose  his  labour.      Printed  by  the 
assignes    of    Martin    Junior,    without    any   priviledge    of    the 
Catercaps. 

[Wolston,  July  22,  1589.]     Pp.  31.     Small  8vo.     Rom.  type. 
B.M.—  C.  36.  b.  21. 

13.  [MARTIN  SENIOR.]     The  iust  censure  arid  reproof e  of 
Martin  Junior.     Wherein  the  rash  and  vndiscreete  headines  of 
the  foolish  youth  is  sharply  mette  with,  and  the  boy  hath  his 
lesson  taught  him,  I  warrant  you,  by  his  reuerend  and  elder 
brother,   Martin  Senior,   sonne  and  heire  vnto  the  renowmed 
Martin  Marprelate  the  Great.     Where  also,  least  the  springall 
shold  be  vtterly  discouraged  in  his  good  meaning,  you  shall  finde, 
he  is  not  beraued  of  his  due  commendations. 


APPENDIX  B  327 

[Wolston,  July  29,  1589.]  Sig.  A-D,  in  fours.  Small  8vo. 
Eom.  type. 

B.M.— C.  36.  b.  22. 

1 4.  A  Countercuffe  giuen  to  Martin  Junior  :  by  the  venturous, 
bardie,  and  renowned  Pasquill  of  England,  Caualiero.     Not  of 
olde    Martins  making,   wbich    newlie   knighted    the    Saints    in 
Heauen,  with  rise  vp  Sir  Peter  and  Sir  Paule ;  But  lately  dubd 
for  his  serai ce  at  home  in  the  defence  of  his  Country,  and  for 
the  cleane  breaking  of  his  staffe  vppon  Martins  face.     Printed 
betweene  the  skye  and  the  grounde,  Within  a  myle  of  an  Oake, 
and   not   many   fieldes    of,  from   the    vnpriuiledged   Presse   of 
Ass-ignes  of  Martin  Junior.     Anno.  Dom.  1589.     Sig.  A  i.-iiii. 
4  to.     '  Pasquill '  generally  accepted  by  his  contemporaries  as  the 
pseudonym  of  Thos.  Nash. 

Lamb.  Pal.  Lib. — xxx.  6.  26  (1).  Dated  on  Sig.  A  iiii.  vers. 
1  the  sixt  of  August.' 

B.M. — C.  37.  d.  48  [a  fresh  setting].  Dated  on  Sig.  A  iv. 
vers.  '  the  eight  of  August.' 

15.  [THE   PROTEST ATYON.]      The   Protestatyon   of    Martin 
Marprelat.     Wherin  not  wi[t]h  standing  the  surprizing  of  the 
printer,  he  maketh  it  known  vnto  the  world  that  he  feareth, 
neither  proud  priest,  Antichristian  pope,  tiranous  prellate,  nor 
godlesse  catercap  :  but  defiethe  all  the  race  of  them  by  these 
presents   and    offereth    conditionally,   as  is    farthere    expressed 
hearin  by  open  disputation  to  apear  in  the  defence  of  his  caus 
against  them  and  theirs.     Which  chaleng  if  they  dare  not  main- 
taine  against  him :    then  doth  he  alsoe  publishe  that  he   neuer 
meaneth  by  assi[s]taunce  of  god  to  leaue  the  a  ssayling  of  them 
and  theire  generation  vntill  they  be  vterly  extinguished  out  of 
our  church.      Published    by    the  worthie    gentleman   Dfoctor] 
martin    marprelat   D.   in    all  the   faculties    primat   and    metro 
Politan. 

[Wolston,  Sept.  1589.]  Pp.  32  [last  page  incorrectly 
numbered  23].  Small  8vo.  Kom.  type. 

Lamb.  Pal.  Lib. — xxix.  9.  4  (4). 

Copies  of  this  rare  tract  to  be  found  also  in  the  Bodleian  and 
the  Camb.  Univ.  Library. 

16.  A  Whip  for  an  Ape  :  or  Martin  displaied. 

Ordo  sacerdotum  fatno  turbatur  ab  omni 
Labitur  et  passim  Religionis  honos. 

[October  (early)  1589.]  Pp.8.  4to.  B.L.  Twenty -six 
6-line  stanzas. 


328  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

The  same  tract  is  published,  from  the  same  type,  with  the 
title  '  Rhythmes  against  Martin  Marre-Prelate.' 
B.M.— C.  37.  d.  42. 

17.  The   Returne    of    the   renowned  Caualiero   Pasquill    of 
England,  from  the  other  side  the  Seas,  and  his  meeting  with 
Marforius  at  London  vpon  the  Royall  Exchange.     Where  they 
encounter  with  a  little   houshold  talke    of    Martin    and    Mar- 
tinisme,  discouering  the  scabbe  that  is  bredde  in  England,  and 
conferring  together  about  the  speedie  dispersing  of  the  golden 
Legende  of  the  Hues  of  the  Saints.     If  my  breath  be  so  hote 
that  I  burne  my  mouth,  suppose  I  was  Printed  by  Pepper  Allie. 
Anno  Dom.  1589.     [T.  Nash.]      4to.      Sig.  A-D  iv.  rect.  Rom. 
type.     '  Pasquils  Protestation  vpon  London  Stone  '  at  the  end 
of  the  pamphlet  is  dated  '  20  Octobris.' 

B.M.— 96.  b.  15  (8). 

18.  Pappe  with  an  hatchet.     Alias,  A  figge  for  my  God 
sonne.     Or,  Cracke  me  this  nut.      Or,  A  Countrie  cuffe,  that  is, 
a  sound  boxe  of  the  eare,  for  the  idiot  Martin  to  hold  his  peace, 
seeing  the  patch  will  take  no  warning.     Written  by  one  that 
dares  call  a  dog,  a  dog,  and  made  to  preuent  Martins  dog  daies. 
Imprinted  by  lohn  Anoke,  and  lohn  Astile,  for  the  Bayliue  of 
Withernam,  cum  priuilegio  perennitatis,  and  are  to  bee  sold  at 
the   signe  of  the  crab  tree  cudgell  in  thwackcoate  lane.      A 
sentence.     Martin  hangs  fit  for  my  mowing.     [John  Lyly.]     4to. 
Sig.  A-D  3  vers.     Rom.  type. 

B.M. — 96.  b.  15  (2).     Reprinted  by  J.  Petheram,  London, 
1844. 

19.  Martins  Months  minde,  That  is  A  certaine  report,  and 
true  description  of  the  Death  and  Funeralls,   of    olde   Martin 
Marreprelate,  the  great  makebate  of  England  and  father  of  the 
Factions.     Contayning  the  cause  of  his  death,  the  manner  of 
his  buriall,  and  the  right  copies  both  of  his  Will,  and  of  such 
Epitaphs,  as  by  Svndrie  his   dearest  friends,   and   other  of  his 
well  willers,  were  found  for  him. 

Martin  the  ape,  the  dronke,  and  the  madde, 
The  three  Martins  are,  whose  workes  we  haue  had, 
If  Martin  the  fourth  came,  after  Martins  so  euill, 
Nor  man,  nor  beast  comes,  but  Martin  the  deuill. 

1589. — 4to,  Sig.  A-H.     Rom.  type. 
B.M.— C.  37.  d.  39. 

20.  Marre    Mar -Martin   or   Marre  -  Martins    medling,   in   a 
manner  misliked 


APPENDIX  B  329 

Martins  vaine  prose,  Marre-Martin  dotli  mislike, 
Reason  (forsooth)  for  Martin  seekes  debate, 
Marre  Martin  will  not  so  ;  yet  doth,  his  patience  strike  : 
Last  verse,  first  prose,  conclude  in  one  self  hate  : 
Both  maintaine  strife,  vnfitting  Englands  state. 
Martin,  Marre-Martin,  Barrow  ioynd  with  Browne 
Shew  zeal :  yet  striue  to  pull  Religion  downe. 

Printed   [the  printer's  name  in  all  accessible  copies  is  neatly 
cut  out].     4  to  ;  2  J  pp.  verse.     B.L. 
B.M.— C.  37.  d.  40. 

21.  Plaine  Percevall  the  Peace-Maker  of  England.     Sweetly 
indevoring  with  his  blunt  persuasions  to  botch  vp  a  Reconcilia- 
tion  between  Mar-ton  and  Mar-tother.      Compiled  by  lawful! 
art,  that  is  to  say,  without  witch  craft,  or  sorcery :  and  referred 
specially  to  the  Meridian  and  pole  Artichoke  of  Nomans  Land  : 
but  may  serue  generally  without  any  great    error,   for  more 
Countries  then  He  speak  e  of.     Quis  furor  aut  hos,  Aut  hos,  arma 
sequi,  ferrumque  lacessere  iussit.     Printed  in  Broad-streete  at  the 
signe  of  the  Pack-staffe.     4to,  pp.  26.     Introd.  in  Rom.  type, 
tract  in  B.L.     [Richard  Harvey.]     Reprinted,  London,  1860. 

B.M.— 96.  b.  15  (3). 

1590 

22.  A  Friendly  Admonition  to  Martine  Marprelate  and  his 
Mates.      By  Leonard  Wright.     London,  1590.     4to,  6  pp.  B.L. 

Lamb.    Pal.    Lib.— xxx.   6.   23  (3).     Entered  at   Stat.  Hall, 
Jan.  19,  1590. 

23.  An    Almond   for   a  Parrat,   Or    Cutbert   Curry -knaues 
Almes.       Fit   for    the   knaue   Martin,    and    the   rest  of    those 
impudent   Beggers,    that   can    not    be    content    to    stay    their 
stomakes  with  a  Benefice,   but  they  will  needes  breake  their 
fastes    with    our   Bishops.      Rimarum   sum  plenus.       Therefore 
beware  (gentle  Reader)  you  catch  not  the  hicket  with  laughing. 
Imprinted  at  a  Place,  not  farre  from  a  Place,  by  the  Assignes  of 
Signior  Some-body  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  shoppe  in  Trouble- 
knaue   Street,  at  the  signe  of  the  Standish.     [T.   Nash.]     4to, 
pp.40.     B.L.     Reprinted  London,  1846. 

B.M.— 3932.  d. 

24.  The  Firste  Parte  of  Pasquils    Apologie.      Wherein    he 
renders  a  reason  to  his  friendes  of  his  long  silence :  and  gallops 
the  fielde  with  the  Treatise  of   Reformation  lately  written  by 
a  fugitiue  John  Penrie.     Printed  where  I  was  and  where  I  will 
bee  readie  by  the  helpe  of  God  and  my  Muse  to  send  you  the 
May-game  of  Martinisme  for  an  intermedium  betweene  the  first 


330  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

and  seconde  part  of  the  apologie.  Anno  Dom.  1590.  [T.  Nash.] 
4to,  Sig.  A-E  i.  vers.  Rom.  type.  Dated  at  close  July  2nd. 
[This  pamphlet  has  only  a  slight  connection  with  the  Marprelate 
controversy.  Its  chief  concern  is  with  Penry  and  his  pamphlet 
A  treatise  wherein  is  manifestlie  proved  (commonly,  known  as  Refor- 
mation no  Enemy).  See  Dexter,  Congregationalism  in  its  Lit.  185.] 
B.M.— 1077.  f.  5  (1). 

25.  A  Myrror  for  Martinists,  And  all  other  Schismatiques, 
which  in  these  dangerous  daies  doe  breake  the  godlie  vnitie,  and 
disturbe  the  Christian  peace  of  the  Church.     Published  by  T. 
Tfurswell].     London,  1590.     4to ;  2  pp.  Rom.  type,  34  pp.  B.L. 
(Entered at  Stat. Hall,  <  22  Decembris  [1589].'    Arber'sStefc^HO.) 

Lamb.  Pal.  Lib.— xxx.  6.  26  (8). 

26.  A  Theologicall  Disco vrse  of  the  Lamb  of  God  and  His 
Enemies :  Contayning  a  briefe  Commentarie  of  Christian  faith 
and   felicitie,  together  with   a  detection   of  old  and  new  Bar- 
barisme,   now  commonly  called   Martinisme.     Newly  published 
both  to  declare  the  vnfayned  resolution  of  the  wryter  in  these 
present  controuersies,  and  to  exercise  the  faithfull  subiect  in 
godly   reuerence   and   dutiful   obedience.      Titus   c.    2.   v.   15. 
London,  Anno  1590.     4to,  pp.  203.     [R.  Harvey.] 

B.M.— C.  37.  d.  44. 

27.  A   petition   directed   to   her   most    excellent    Maiestie, 
wherein  is  deliuered  1.  A  meane  howe  to  compound  the  ciuill 
dissension  in  the   church  of  England.     2.  A  proofe  that  they 
who  write  for  Reformation,  doe  not  offend  against  the  Stat.  of 
23.  Eliz.  c.  and   therfore  till  matters  be  compounded,  deserue 
more  favour.     Herevnto  is  annexed :  Some  opinions  of  such  as 
sue  for  Reformation  :  By  which  it  may  appeare  howe  vniustlie 
they  are  slaundered  by  the  Bishops,  etc.  pag.  53.     Togither  with 
the  Authors   Epistle  to  the  Reader,  pag.  58.      Also,  Certayne 
Articles  wherein  is  discovered  the  negligence  of  the  Bishops, 
their   Officialls,    Fauorers    and   Followers,    in    performance    of 
sundrie  Ecclesiasticall  Statutes,  Lawes  and  Ordinancies  Royall 
and  Episcopall,  published  for  the  gouernement  of  the  Church  of 
Englande,  pag.  60.      Lastlie,  Certayne  Questions  or  Interroga- 
tories drawen  by  a  fauorer  of  Reformation,  wherein  he  desireth 
to  be  resolued  by  the  Prelates,  pag.  74.     4to,  pp.  83.     Rom. 
type.     [1589  or  1590.] 

B.M.— 4106.  aaa.  3. 

1592 

28.  An  Answere  to  a  Certaine  Libel  supplicatori,  or  rather 


APPENDIX  B  331 

Diffamatory,  and  also  to  certaine  Calumnious  Articles  and 
Interrogatories,  both  printed  and  scattered  in  secret  corners,  to 
the  slaunder  of  the  Ecclesiasticall  state,  and  put  forth  under 
the  name  and  title  of  a  Petition  directed  to  her  Maiestie. 

Wherein  not  onely  the  friuolous  discourse  of  the  Petitioners 
is  refuted,  but  also  the  accusation  against  the  Disciplinarians  his 
clyents  justified,  and  the  slaunderous  cauils  at  the  present 
gouernement  disciphered  by  Matthew  Sutcliffe.  London,  1592. 
4to.  pp.  212.  (Dated  at  close  of  Ep.  20  of  December.) 

B.M.— 4105.  aaa.  55. 

1593 

29.  A  svrvay  of  the  Pretended  Holy  Discipline.     Contayning 
the    beginninges,   successe,   parts,    proceedings,    authority,    and 
doctrine  of  it :  with  some  of  the  manifold,  and  materiall  repug- 
nances, varieties  and  uncertainties  in  that  behalfe.     Faithfully 
gathered,  by  way  of  historicall  narration,  out  of  the  bookes  and 
wri tinges,  of  principall  favourers  of  that  platforme.     Anno  1593. 
[R.  Bancroft.]     4 to,  pp.  471. 

B.M.— 4135.  b.  76. 

30.  Davngerovs  Positions  and  Proceedings,   published   and 
practised  within  this  Hand  of  Brytaine  and  under  pretence  of 
Reformation,    and   for   the    Presbiteriall   Discipline.      London, 
1593.     [R.  Bancroft.]     4 to,  pp.  191. 

B.M.— T.  775  (3). 

1594 

31.  The  Defence  of  lob  Throkmorton  against  the  slaunders 
of  Maister  Sutcliffe,  taken  out  of  a  Copye  of  his  owne  hande  as 
it  was  written  to  an  honorable  Personage.     1594.     4to.     Sig. 
A-E  iv.  rect. 

B.M.— 4378.  c.  46. 

1595 

32.  An  Answere  vnto  a  certaine  calumnious  letter  published 
by  M.  lob  Throkmorton,  entitled  A  defence  of  I.  T.  against  the 
slanders  of  M.  Sutcliffe,  wherein  the  vanitie  both  of  the  defence 
of  himselfe  and  the  accusation  of  others  is  manifestly  declared 
by  M.  Sutcliffe.     1595.     4to;  pp.  150,  numbered  only  on  the 
recto. 

B.M.— 4105.  aaa.  56. 


Two  works  may  be  enumerated  which,  while  not  strictly 
belonging  to  the  Marprelate  Controversy,  are  yet  very  closely 
associated  with  it. 


332  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

1.  M.  Some  laid  open  in  his  coulers :  Wherein  the  indifferent 
reader  may  easily  see,  hovve  wretchedly  and  loosely  he  hath 
handeled  the   cause  against  M.   Penrie.     Done  by  an   Oxford 
man,  to  his  friend  in  Cambridge.     Small  8vo,  pp.  124.     At  the 
foot  of  the  last  page  are  the  letters  I.  G.     [1  Printed  by  Walde- 
grave  at  Rochelle,  1589.] 

B.M.— 848.  a.  10. 

2.  A  Dialogue  wherein  is  laid  open,  the  tyrannicall  dealing  of 
L.  Bishopps  against  Gods  children :   with  certaine  points    of 
doctrine,  wherein  they  approoue  themselues   (according  to  D. 
Bridges  his  iudgement)  to  be  truely  the  Bishops  of   the  Diuell. 
p  Printed   by  Waldegrave  at  Rochelle.     Written  (after  April), 
1589.]     8vo.     A-D  in  fours. 

B.M.— 4106.  b.  [Reprinted  1643,  under  the  title  'The 
Character  of  a  Puritan/  B.M.— E.  87  (11). 

Several  other  works,  such  as,  A  Bayte  for  Momus  and  his  mates 
and  Sir  Marten  Marr-People^his  Coller  of  Esses,  are  sometimes 
included  in  bibliographies  of  this  controversy.  Their  only 
relation  to  it  lies  in  the  suggestion  of  their  titles. 


APPENDIX    C 

The  Examinations  of  (1)  John  Hodgkins,  the  printer  of 
THESES  MARTINIANAE  and  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND 
EEPROOFE  ;  also  of  (2)  his  assistants  Valentine  Simms 
and  Arthur  Thomlyn.  These  MSS.  have  not  hitherto 
been  printed. 

I 

Jo  :  Hodgskins  arraigned  vppon  ye  stat.  of  23  Eliz. 
for  printinge  of  thes  matiname  (sic). 

It  was  proved  by  the  confession  of  the  partie  him  self  and  of 
one  Simes  and  Tomlines  which  were  formerly  hired  by  the  said 
Hodgkins  did  print  the  booke  aboue  said  .  .  .  the  place  was 
mr  Wigstones  house  in  comi.  warw(ick).  The  authors  of  the  booke 
was  confessed  by  the  parties  above  named  to  be  mr  Jobe  Throck- 
micton  [Throkmorton]  of  Warwickshire  by  these  circumstances 
.  .  .  first,  when  that  hodgkins  had  gotten  those  his  under 
printers  redie  and  had  sworne  them  by  a  corporall  [oath]  they 
not  to  discover  anie  thinge  they  should  print,  he  then  appointed 
them  to  goe  to  Couentrie  where  they  print  certaine  accidents, 
but  he  him  self  went  to  mr  Throckintones  house  he  met  Penery 
wth  whome  he  abode  there  all  that  night  The  next  morninge 
takinge  leave  of  the  saide  Throckmrton  mr  Penry  would  needes 
bringe  him  on(e)  his  waye  whereas  the[y]  were  wa]kinge  towardes 
warwicke  thefy]  founde  in  [the]  path  wthin  a  boult  shoote  of  the 
house  a  great  part  of  the  saide  theses  [Martinianae]  which  the 
saide  Hodgk  :  tooke  vpp  and  printed  and  before  l  the  fm[i]shinge 
of  yl  work  mr  Throck :  came  to  them  usinge  there  [their]  print 
and  expoundinge  certaine  obscure  interlines  unto  the  printers, 
demaunding  further  of  the  said  hodgk  :  whether  the  said  Symes 
and  Tomlynes  were  fitt  men  for  the  purpose  .  .  .  wherein 

1  '  And  before '  repeated  twice  in  error  in  the  original. 
333 


334  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

Hodgk  :  then  satisfied  him.  ...  It  appeared  by  the  conf  [ession] 
of  they  parties  aboue  named,  taken  before  the  bb.1  of  the 
counsell  and  by  the  circumstances  precedent  that  this  booke 
was  devised  chiefly  by  the  said  Throck :  as  also  he  is  thought  to 
be  the  auther  of  Martin  senior2  and  more  worke  for  the  cooper 
.  .  .  for  that,  and  as  they  said  symes  and  Tomkines  [sic] 
confessed]  they  sawe  the  Coppies  written  [i.e.  of  MORE  WORK 
FOR  THE  COOPER]  which  the[y]  should  have  printed  which  were 
all  of  one  hand  with  the  other  booke  called  theses  |  Hodgk  : 
vpon  his  arr[est]  did  at  first  appeale  to  her  maties  mercie,  but 
when  the  pointes  contfained]  in  the  indifcjtm*,  being  ten  in 
number,  were  urged  against  him  and  plainly  proved  to  contfain] 
matter  of  sedccon  [sedition]  and  slaunder  to  her  matie  and  the  state  he 
stoode  then  verie  confidentlie  to  the  iustifinnge  [justifying]  of 
the  said  booke,  bouldly  affirminge  that  nothing  therein  contained] 
was  reprochfull  or  slaunderous  to  her  matie  or  the  state  .  .  . 
untill  at  the  length  beinge  therein  notabl[i]e  convinced  he  then 
p'tested  that  he  knewe  not  the  authors  meaninge  therein, 
affirminge  p  denying]  that  he  did  print  the  saide  booke  wth3 
anie  such  malicious  intent  against  her  matie  or  the  state  as  in 
that  intent  he  was  charged  for  ...  wherunto  he  was  answeared 
that  not  the  intent,  wch  might  be  secret  but  the  fact  of  the 
p[ar]tie  must  shewe  his  minde,  and  because  the  matters  in  the 
booke  are  sedicious  turbulent  and  rebellious,  and  the  devise 
therof  by  the  lawe  to  be  wtbin  compasse  of  fellonie,  the  printer 
also  by  express  wordes,  and  judged  by  the  same  lawe  to  be  in 
the  same  degree  of  fellonie  as  the  deviser  .  .  .  yet  the  said 
Hodgk :  vppon  his  innocencie  herein  much  insested,  till  in  the 
end  he  vehemently  urged  and  claimed  the  benefit  of  a  certaine 
p[re]mise  in  the  said  statut  wherein  p[ro]uision  is  made  that  the 
p[ar]tie  accused  must  be  manifestly  convinced  by  twoe  witnesses 
p[ro]duced  viua  wee  and  that  wthin  one  moneth  after  the  fact 
before  one  Justice  of  peace  or  els  must  be  indicted  thereof 
wthin  one  yere  next  after  the  offence,  where  as  nowe  they  wanted 
witnesses  and  also  that  one  yere  and  more  was  since  the  im- 
pression. .  .  .  Thes  p[ro]viso  was  reade  and  it  appeared  plainly 
that  none  could  take  benefit  thereof  but  only  those  offendfing] 
by  speaking  and  reportinge  and  printers  and  writers  plainly 
exempted.  .  .  .  Then  hee  protested  that  the  confessions  of  the 
said  Symes  and  Tomlynes  had  bene  violentpy]  extorted  from 

1  Query  'bishops,'  or  possibly  intended  for  11.  'lords'  ;  the  MS.  is  poorly 
written. 

2  That  is,  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND  REPROOFE. 

3  The   denial   was    probably   intended    to    be    stated    by  writing   here 
'without.' 


APPENDIX  C  335 

them  and  by  his  one  [own]  confession  he  was  forced  thereunto 
by  rackinge  and  great  torments  .  .  .  wheruppon  Justice  Gawdy 
p[ro]tested  that  he  did  verie  shamefully,  himself  being  present 
at  the  examinacon  which  conteyned  noe  more  in  effect  then  he 
him  self  vollentorilie  confessed  namely  [that  he  was]  the  printer 
of  the  said  booke  .  .  .  lastly,  he  acknowledged  the  degree  of 
Bishoppes,  but  not  of  Lor  Bishoppes,  Archbishoppes  .  .  .  after  all 
these  matters  p[ro]duced  against  him  he  would  no[t]  resist  from 
allowinge  the  book  till  they  had  found  him  guiltie,  at  what  time 
in  verie  submise  manner  he  renounced  his  former  assercons  and 
humblie  praied  the  11s  for  his  life  and  the  furtherance  to  her 
matie  for  her  favor.  | 

[YELVERTON  MSS.  vol.  70,  fol.  146.] 

(The  text  has  been  made  slightly  easier  to  read  by  the 
insertion  of  a  few  stops,  and  by  leaving  spaces  to  separate  the 
sentences  where  the  larger  breaks  in  narrative  occur.  The 
examination  probably  took  place  in  September  or  October 
1589.) 

II 

Endorsement. — The  laste  examinations  of  Thomlynes  and  Symmes 
before  ye  L.  Chauncelor  etc.  10  Decembris  in  the  case  of 
Job  Throgmorto  and  Penry. 

The  examination  of  Valentyne  Symmes  and  Arthur  Tamlin 
stationers  taken  by  the  comaundment  of  the  L.  Chauncelore  of 
England  the  Xth  of  December  1589. 

A.  Abowt  St  James  tyde  John  Hodgkins  dealt  with  these 
examinants  to  goe  wth  them  into  the  contry  to  print  accidences 
etc,  promisinge  to  Simes  xx  1.  a  yeare  and  meat  and  drink,  and 
to  the  other  viii  1.  and  meat  and  drink,  but  signifyed  vnto  them 
that  he  had  sent  a  press  downe  to  the  country  where  they  should 
work.     Wherupon  dep[ar]tinge  all  these  together  on  foote  they 
came  to  Aderbury,  to  Simes  his  fathers  vpon  the  Sonday  after. 

B.  That  night  Hodgkins  went  to  Mr  Job  Throckmortons  and 
apoynted  Simes  to  meet  him  the  next  morning  at  Warwick  and 
Thomlin  to  goe  upon  the  monday  to  Coventrye     Upon  the  sayd 
monday  Hodgkins  meeting  Simes  at  Warwick  (upon  his  returne 
fro  Mr  Throckmortons)  told  him  he  had  now  a  book  [in  MS.] 
which  they  must  presently  fall  a  printinge  and  shewed  him  the 
same     It  was  the  book  intituled  Theses  Martiniane  and  sayd 
they  must  go  to  a  place  called  wolston  about  fower  miles  of[f] 
where   there  was  a   presse  and  letters  [type]  ready  for  that 
purpose. 


336  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

C.  When  they  came  to  the  foresayd  place  Mrs  Wigston  was 
at  Coventry  at  a  fast  and  as  they  think  Mr  Wigston  was  not  at 
home.  One  Mrs  More  did  intertayne  them.  Upon  the  foresayde 
monday  at  night  Hodgkins  sent  vnto  Coventry  for  Tamlin  who 
vpon  Tuesday  in  the  morning  came  to  Wolston  unto  him.  Thus 
all  these  beinge  mett  together  agayne,  and  findinge  there  papfer] 
inck  press  letters  and  all  thinges  ready  they  beganne  to  prepare 
them  selves  to  work :  so  that  upon  the  Thursday  after  (to  theyr 
remembraunce)  they  fell  to  printinge.  Duringe  the  which  worke 
Simes  him  selfe  was  the  onely  correcter.1 

E.  Mrs   Wigston  came   home   vpon  the    sayde  Tuesday  at 
night,  and  on  the  Wednesday  in  the  morninge  (they  being  abowt 
theyr  worke)  she  came  vnto  them  and  bad  them  very  hartily 
welcome  etc.     At  diverse  times  after  she  came  likewise  unto 
them,  and  did  excuse  in  kinde  sorte  theyr  badd  intertaynement. 

F.  Abowt  Thursday  (as  these  examinants  thinke)  Mr  Harrison 
alias  Bridges  als  Penry  came  unto  them  and  badd  them  welcome.2 

G.  The  ffriday  after  as  they  do  think3  a  gentleman  came 
unto  them  as  they  were  printinge  whom  since  they  understand 
to  be  Job  Throkmorton  and  badd  god  speed  them.     Immediately 
after  his  cominge  he  read  that  wch  was  in  printinge,  and  found 
fault  in  some  place  wth  the  orthography.     Then  he  looked  upon 
the  written  copy  and  bicause  it  was  in  diverse  places  interlined 
he  asked  Simes  yf  he  could  read  the  sayd  place  so  interlyned, 
poynting    him    unto  them.     Among  the  wch  places  ther  were 
two,    wherin    Simes    doubted.      And    Mr    Throckmorton    did 
p[re]sently    read     them     distinctly    and     readily    unto     him. 
Furthermore  at  the  sayd  time  he  asked  Hodgkins  softly  in  his 
eare,  whether  these  examinants  were  good  workmen  and  able  to 
serve  the  turn  :   and  Hodgkins  answered  yea.     That  in  effect 
Simes  overheard.     At  that  time  likewise  the  said  Harrison  came 
in  unto  them  wth  the  said  Throckmorton. 

H.  Simes  affirmeth  that  he  receaved  at  first  but  on[e]  or  twoe 
sheets  of  Theses  Martiniane :  and  he  thinketh  the  rest  was 
brought  thither  by  the  said  Throckmorton. 

J.  This  book  being  finished  vpon  the  next  monday  after  (as 
they  thinke)  then  Hodgkins  delivered  unto  them  to  be  printed 
[the]  copy  of  Martin  Senior4  wch  he  had  acquainted  them  wth 
all  vpon  the  friday  before.  This  copy  was  of  the  same  hand 

1  The  first  page  ends  here  and  is  signed  by  both  the  accused.     Thomlyn 
makes  a  mark.     Possibly  he  had  not  recovered  from  his  racking. 

2  The  following  words  inserted  at  this  place  are  scored  out :   '  assuringe 
them  that  he  would  see  performed  unto  them  for  theyr  allowance.' 

3  Inserted  and  scored  out,  '  Mr  Job  Throckmorton, ' 

4  That  is,  THE  JUST  CENSURE  AND  REPROOFE, 


APPENDIX  C  337 

wri tinge  wth  the  former.  And  Simes  thinketh  that  mr  Throck- 
mort[on]  was  the  author  of  it.1 

K.  Abowt  the  Wednesday  following  (as  they  remember)  the 
sayd  Mr  Harrison  came  unto  the  working  howse  :  and  having 
stayed  there  a  while,  he  went  up  to  the  chamber  where  the  book 
printed  was  usually  folded. 

L.  Here  it  is  to  be  observed  that  when  Hoskins  hired  first 
these  examinantes,  he  told  them  that  when  they  came  into  the 
contry  a  gentleman  should  give  his  word  for  the  payment  of 
theyr  wages,  and  that  he  cawsed  them  to  sweare  before  theyr 
going  fro  London  that  they  should  never  disclose  anything  that 
he  should  comitt  unto  them  to  be  printed.  At  this  time  then, 
after  Harrison  was  gone  up  into  the  chamber,  Hoskins  told 
Simes  how  he  the  sayd  Harrison  was  the  man  that  wold  give  his 
word  wth  him  for  payment  of  theyr  wages.  Wherupon  after 
they  had  lefte  work  (Harrison  taryinge  there  all  night)  Simes 
desired  to  talk  with  him.  And  so  Hodgkins  and  he  coming  to 
Harrison  (after  some  speach  of  the  foresayd  examinant)  he 
ratefyed  the  same  :  so  as  they  wold  be  faithfull  unto  Hodgkins. 
At  what  time  Simes  agayne  renewed  his  oath  for  his  secrecy. 

M.  About  the  Tuesday  after,  they  made  an  end  of  Martin 
Senior.  Upon  Ffriday  before  this  Hodgkins  had  told  SiiTies 
that  if  the  brethren  thought  good  when  Martin  Junior  was 
finished  they  wold  tak  in  hand  the  printing  of  another  book. 
But  now  upon  the  Tuesday  he  sayd  to  Simes  it  was  resolved 
that  for  feare  of  being  taken  there,  they  should  depart  to 
another  place. 

N.  Thereupon  they  p[re]pared  themselves.  They  tooke 
downe  the  presse  wch  Mrs  Wigston  sayd  shold  be  hid  under  a 
load  of  strawe  or  hay — they  doe  not  remember  whether  [which]. 
They  packed  up  three  payre  of  cases  wth  lettres  of  three  sorts, 
and  that  after  none  a  carte  wch  Hodgkins  had  p[re]pared  came 
by  that  way  and  receaved  the  sayd  cases  wth  theyr  lettres  :  like 
wise  also  the  ink  that  was  lefte  and  about  twelve  reame  of 
papfer]  was  then  loaded. 

0.  Mrs.  Wigston  gave  unto  these  examinantes  half  a  crowne 
a  piece,  and  so  that  night  they  dep[ar]ted  wth  Hodgkins  towards 
Warrington  in  Lancashire. 

P.  Upon  the  Ffriday  next  they  came  to  Warrington :  And 
the  Monday  after  the  said  cart  came  thither  likewise.  At  the 
unloading  of  the  stuff  in  the  street  some  of  the  lettres  fell  out  of 
the  boxes  to  the  ground.  Diverse  standing  by  and  marvayling 
what  they  shold  be  Hodgkins  answered  they  were  shott.  They 
1  The  page  here  ends,  and  the  signatures  are  repeated  as  before. 


338  THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 

tearmed  themselves  accordinge  to  Hodgkins  directions  to  be 
saltpeter  men.1 

Q.  The  Thursday  after  Hodgkins  having  prepared  a  howse 
in  Newton  lane  about  a  mile  fro  Manchester  to  work  in 
these  examinants  were  sent  thither  to  p[re]pare  theyr  frames 
for  their  cases :  and  upon  the  Monday  after  all  the  stuff  was 
brought  fro  Warrington  thither.  Then  they  began  to  sett  up 
theyr  presse  :  and  upon  Thursday  they  fell  to  printing  of  more 
work  for  coopfer].  They  had  not  wrought  the  sayd  Thursday 
above  three  howres  :  but  they  were  apprehended,  having  printed 
abowt  six  quires  of  one  side. 

R.  Before  they  were  apprehended  Hodgkins  told  these 
examinants  that  the  next  Book  or  the  next  but  one  wch  they 
had  to  print  shold  be  in  Latin.  Sims  doth  thinke  that  '  more 
work  for  the  Coopfer] '  was  likewise  of  Mr  Throckmortons 
penninge :  for  that  it  was  the  same  hand  that  '  mrtins  senior ' 
and  'martin  Junior'  was.  The  writen  copyes  of  'martin 
senior '  and  '  martin  Junior '  Simes  doth  verily  think  they  are 
in  a  Settle  by  the  bedside  where  he  lay  in  Newton  lane. 

S.  After  they  were  apprhended  and  as  they  were  ridinge  by 
the  way,  at  diverse  times  as  they  might  (beinge  narowly  lookt 
unto)  Hodgkins  dealt  with  these  examinants  in  effect  as  fol- 
loweth :  That  they  should  remember  theyr  oath,  and  in  any 
wise  be  secret  even  untill  death  rather  than  detect  where 
'  martin  Senior '  and  '  Martin  Junior '  were  printed,  or  once  to 
make  any  mention  of  mr  Wigstone :  that  the[i]re  imprisonment 
assuredly  should  be  but  for  some  short  time,  where  they  should 
want  neyther  meat  drink  nor  money :  that  they  shold  be  allowed 
for  the  time  they  were  in  prison  ratably  as  though  they  had 
been  working :  and  that  after  they  were  delivered  he  wold 
agayne  sett  them  to  printe  in  Ireland. 

T.  Ffurthermore  Hodgkins  told  them  by  the  way,  that  he 
verily  thought  they  were  detected  by  the  lettres  wch  fell  downe 
at  warrington  when  the  carte  was  unloaden :  and  willed  Simes 
that  he  should  never  lett  any  of  the  brethren  know  of  it. 

U.  When  'Theses  martiniane'  were  finished  Humphrey 
Newman  (termed  then  Humphrey  Brownbread)  was  at  mr 
wigstons  and  gave  unto  mrs  wigston  the  first  copy  that  was 
finished  to  gett  the  thanks  from  Hoskins.2 

X.  Ffurthermore  as  they  were  cominge  up  Hodgkins  told 
Simes  that  notwthstandinge  this  presse  and  these  lettres  now 
taken  we  have,  saith  he,  as  you  know  a  presse  at  mr  wigstons 

1  Signatures  at  the  foot  of  page  as  before. 
2  End  of  page  ;  signatures  as  before. 


APPENDIX  C  339 

and  some  lettres  and  beside  we  have  two  sorts  of  lettres  at  a 
marchaunts  howse  in  London  wch  were  bought  of  Walgrave. 

5.  Upon  occasion  of  speach  whilest  they  were  in  Lancashire 
Simes  asked  where  Walgrave  was.  Hodgkins  answered  that  he 
had  played  the  knave  notably  wth  the  brethren  in  that  having 
gotten  the  copy  of  Cartwrights  book  agaynst  the  E-hemish 
Testament  he  was  gone  to  print  that  for  his  comoditye  and 
had  given  the  brethren  over. 

X.  When  'martin  Senior'  was  in  printinge  Simes,  thy 
examinate,  p[er]using  the  copy  found  fait  wth  somethings  in  it 
towards  the  end  as  being  written  wthout  sense  whereupon 
Hodgkins  cariinge  y6  Copy  to  Harrison  he 1  strooke  owt  certayne 
lines  and  interlined  that  wch  should  be  supplyed. 

§§.  When  this  examinate  Simes  mett  wth  Hodgkins  first  at 
Warwick2  he  showed  him  as  they  were  going  to  Wolston  a 
letter  wch  3  he  thinketh  was  written  from  mr  Throckmorton.  It 
was  directed  to  mrs  wigston  as  he  supposeth  for  theyr  intertayne- 
ment  By  the  welcome  wch  mrs  more  gave  them  these  examinates 
thinke  that  mrs  wigstone  had  some  knowledge  before  of  theyr 
cominge  and  had  given  directions  accordingly  to  mrs  more. 

As  they  were  cominge  up  to  London  and  talkinge  of  more 
printinge  hereafter  Hodgkins  told  Simes  this  examinate  that 
they  had  an  other  copy  of  '  more  worke  for  the  Coopfer],'  wch 
should  serve  them  an  other  time :  and  that  this  was  but  the 
first  p[ar]te  of  the  sayd  booke  the  other  p[ar]te  being  allmost  as 
bigge  agayne. 

(Signed)    VALENTINE  SYMMES.      x  ARTHUR  TAMLINS 

marke. 

WALSINGHAM.  BUCKEHURST. 

ANDERSON.  FFORTESCUE. 

FRANCIS  GAWDY.  W.  AUBREY. 

W.  LEWYN. 

[Manchester  Papers  No.  123.] 

(The  above  important  document  was  not  available  when 
Prof.  E.  Arber  published  his  valuable  collection  of  original 
manuscript  evidence  in  the  Introductory  Sketch.) 

1  Words  in  italics  are  added  in  the  margin  of  the  page. 

2  The  following  words  are  written  in  the  original  and  scored  out :   '  as 
they  were  going  to  wolston.' 

3  <  Mr  T '  written  and  scored  out. 


INDEX 


Admonition  to  Parliament,  The  (Field 
and  Wilcox),  36,  40,  311 

Admonition  to  tJie  People  of  England, 
The  (Bishop  Cooper),  165,  315,  324  ; 
its  significant  admissions,  167  ;  note 
on  the  different  editions,  172 

Abstracts,  of  Certaine  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, 93 

Adderbury,  Oxfordshire,  186 

Advertisments,  The,  10-15,  17 ;  its 
rules  declared  expedient,  not  essen- 
tial, 13  ;  imposes  subscription,  13  ; 
and  uniformity,  14 

Alcock,  Gilbert,  34 

Alencon,  Duke  of,  29 

Almond  for  a  Parrat,  An,  237,  320, 
329 

An  Answere  to  a  certen  Libel  (Whit- 
gift),  47 

Anatomie  of  Abuses  (Philip  Stubbes), 
63,  108 

Andrewes,  Launcelot,  chaplain  to 
Whitgift,  127 

Anjou,  Duke  of,  28 

Annus  MiraUlis,  1588,  144 

Answer,  'An,  to  Bishop  Cooper's  ser- 
mon, 41,  110 

Answere  to  a  Certaine  Libel  [The  Peti- 
tion to  her  Majestie]  (M.  Sutcliffe), 
247,  330 

Answere  to  Job  Throkmorton  (M.  Sut- 
cliffe), 235,  253,  331 

Anti-Martinus,  225,  318,  326 

Apostolic  Succession,  disavowed  by 
Bishop  Cooper,  170 

Appellation,  The  (John  Penry),  210, 
316 

Armada,  Spanish,  312,  313 

Arrests  of  suspected  persons  in  1589, 
205 

Arthington,  an  associate  of  Hacket,  252 

Articles  of  Faith  formulated,  27 

Authorship  of  the  tracts,  word  tests, 
294  n. 

Axton,  William,  repudiates  the  charge 
of  disloyalty,  95,  256 


Aylmer,  John,  Archdeacon  of  Lincoln, 
46;  Bishop  of  London,'! 58;  perse- 
cuting Papists  and  Puritans,  66 ; 
refuses  to  answer  Campion's  Ten 
Reasons,  66 ;  on  Satan's  love  for 
women,  72  n.  ;  his  persecution  of 
Cawdrey,  78  ;  gives  his  blind  porter 
a  benefice,  109,  261  ;  defended  by 
Whitgift,  115  ;  regarded  by  the  re- 
formers as  a  deserter,  125  ;  his 
avarice,  125 

Bancroft,  Eichard,  Dr.,  and  the  High 
Commission,  90  ;  defends  pluralism, 
106 ;  sermon  on  the  Trying  of 
the  Spirits,  172,  316  ;  protects  the 
printers  of  Popish  books,  205  ;  ad- 
vises employment  of  mercenary 
hacks,  219  ;  his  disciplinary  tracts, 
249 

Barrowe,  Henry,  of  Clare  Hall,  Cam- 
bridge, 53  ;  his  illegal  imprisonment, 
81  ;  refuses  to  be  sworn,  83  ;  ex- 
amined at  Whitehall,  311  ;  his  mar- 
ginalia in  Some's  Godly  Treatise,  179; 
prays  at  Tyburn  for  Elizabeth,  256  ; 
thought  by  Dexter  to  be  Marprelate, 
286  ;  examined  by  the  Council,  313  ; 
examined  at  the  Fleet,  315 

Bayonne,  Conference  at,  to  destroy 
Protestantism,  11 

Beale,  Kobert,  Clerk  to  the  Council, 
opposes  Whitgift's  Commission,  98 

Bedford,  Earl  of,  his  sympathy  with 
the  reformers,  12 

Bentham,  Bishop,  10,  25 

Bernher,  Augustine,  25  n. 

Biblical  exegesis,  false,  hinders  ideas 
of  liberty,  267 

Bishops,  Roman,  their  unpopularity,  4 

Bishops  opposed  to  the  vestments,  10, 
22  ;^have  not  supported  the  cause  of 
liberty,  16  ;  ordain  indiscriminately, 
37,  109,  110  ;  their  avarice,  101  ; 
charged  by  Marprelate  with  murder- 
ing souls,  260 


34i 


342 


THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 


"Bishops  of  the  Devil,"  the,  258 

Bonner,  Bishop,  advises  more  private 
trial  and  burning  of  heretics,  4  ;  re- 
viled by  a  prisoner,  4 

Book  which  sheweth  the  life  and  man- 
ners, A  (R.  Browne),  54 

Bowes,  Robert,  ambassador  to  Scot- 
land, 211 ;  reports  about  Penry  and 
Waldegrave,  320,  321 

Bridges,  John.  Dean  of  Sarum,  his 
career,  140  n. ;  sermon  against  the 
Brief  e  and  Plain  Declaration,  311 

Brief  and  lamentable  consideration,  A 
(Vestiarian),  19 

Briefe  discourse  against  the  outward 
apparell,  A,  17 

Briefe  Discovery  of  the  Untruthes  and 
Slanders  (against  Bancroft),  176 

Briefe  Examination  for  the  tyme,  A 
(Vestiarian),  18 

Briefe  and  plaine  declaration  (A 
Learned  Discourse),  135-139,  311, 
322 

Bridewell,  the  (prison),  131 

Browne,  Robert,  of  Corpus  Christi, 
Cambridge,  53,  54  ;  on  Presbyterian- 
ism,  175  ;  condemned  by  the  Puri- 
tans, 176  ;  Burleigh  intercedes  with 
Bishop  Rowland  for  him,  318 

Buckhurst,  Lord,  made  Privy  Councillor 
through  the  aid  of  Whitgift,  116 

Burleigh,  Lord,  35  ;  his  vain  attempt 
to  shield  Cawdrey  from  Whitgift  and 
Aylmer,  77,  78  ;  his  protest  against 
Whitgift's  "Spanish  Inquisition," 
86  ;  denounces  the  reckless  ordina- 
tion of  ministers,  110  ;  intercedes 
for  R.  Browne,  318  ;  prohibits  Anti- 
Martinist  plays,  319 

Calthorp,    Sir   Martin,    Lord    Mayor, 

dies,  317 
Cambridge,  evangelical  leaders  trained 

at,  53 

Cartwright,  Thomas,  33,  42,  48,  321 
Cawdrey,  Robert,  rector  of  Luftenham, 

before  the  High  Commission,  77 
Censorship,  Press,  177 
Certaine     Articles    collected     by     the 

Bishops,  43 

Chadderton,  Bishop  of  Chester,  61 
Charles,  Archduke  of  Austria,  a  suitor 

of  Elizabeth,  11 
Chatfield,  Stephen,  vicar  of  Kingston  - 

on-Thames,  16,  313 
Chronology  of  Events,  1588-1589,  309 
Church  spoliation  by  Elizabeth,  100 
Clergy,   unfit   men   ordained   as,    261, 

109    110 


Clink,  the  (prison),  133 

Coal  Hole,  the  (Bishop  of  London's 
prison),  133 

Cobham,  Lord,  made  Privy  Councillor 
through  the  aid  of  Whitgift,  116 

Cole,  Robert,  15 

Compendious  Examination,  A  (W[ill- 
iam]  Stafford] ),  107 

Compters,  the  (prisons),  132 

Compter,  the  South wark  (prison),   134 

Congregationalism  as  seen  in  its  Liter- 
ature (Dexter),  1 

Cooper,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
preaches  against  the  Admonition  to 
Parliament,  41  ;  assists  in  Whit- 
gift's  controversy,  47  ;  defends  plu- 
ralism, 106  ;  recognised  the  existence 
of  unworthy  ministers,  109,  110  ;  a 
noted  plagiarist,  127  ;  why  promoted 
to  the  episcopacy,  127  ;  Admonition 
to  the  People,  165  ;  unjustly  taunted 
on  account  of  his  wife,  272 

Copcot,  Dr.,  sermon  against  The 
Counterpoyson,  93 

Copinger's  interview  with  Throk- 
morton,  252 

Copping,  John  (congregational  martyr), 
54 

Cosin,  Richard,  Replies  to  the  Ab- 
stracte,  93 

Coulton,  G.  G.,  Religious  Education 
before  the  Reformation,  101  n. 

Council  of  Trent,  the,  27 

Countercuffe  given  to  Martin  Junior,  A 
226,  327 

Counterpoyson,  The  (Dudley  Fenner), 
93 

Coventry,  tracts  printed  at,  180 

Coverdale,  Bishop,  and  the  Roman 
vestments,  10,  13  ;  sometime  toler- 
ated by  the  Bishops,  33 

Cox,  Bishop,  and  the  Romish  vest- 
ments, 10  ;  suspected  author  of  a 
Vestiariau  tract,  20  ;  assists  Whit- 
gift in  his  controversy,  47  ;  his 
pluralism,  101 

Crane,  Mrs.,  of  Aldermanbury,  her 
friendship  with  the  reformers,  152  ; 
receives  Waldegrave's  type,  153  ; 
lends  her  house  at  Molesey  for  the 
secret  press,  154  ;  desires  the  re- 
moval of  the  press  from  Molesey, 
156  ;  her  examination,  205 

Crane,  Nicholas,  Puritan  minister,  152 

Creighton,  Bishop,  his  plea  for  Pope 
Alexander  Borgia,  266 

Crick,  chaplain  to  the  Bishop  of  Nor- 
wich, 45 

Cross-bench  writers,  230 


INDEX 


343 


Davngerous  Positions  (Dr.  R.  Bancroft), 

249,  331 
Day  (printer),  43 
Defence  of  Job  Throkmorton,  The,  251, 

331 
Defence  of  that  which  hath  bin  written, 

A  (J.  Penry),  154,  233,  313 
Defence  of  the  Answere  (Whitgift),  49 
Defence  of  the  Ecdesiasticall  Discipline, 

A,  144,  311,  323 
Defence  of  the  Godlie  Ministers,  A,  81, 

82  «.,  311,  313 
Defence  of  the   Godlie  Ministers,    A 

(Dudley  Fenner),  144 
Defence  of  the  Government  Established, 

A    (Dean   Bridges),     139-143,    311, 

322  ;  replies  to,  143 
Demonstration  of  Discipline,  The  (John 

Udall),  213,  313  ;   found  in  Penry's 

study,  315 
Descriptions  of  Britaine  (W.  Harrison), 

63 

Dexter,  Dr.  Henry  Martyn,  1,  286 
Dialogue  wherein  is  laide  open,  A,  242- 

244,  320,  332 
Dialogue  wherin  is  plainly  laide  open, 

A,  320,  332 
Die  ecclesiae,  137 
Diotrephes,  a  dialogue  by  John  Udall, 

152,  213,  311,  312 
Divine  right  of  Episcopacy,  173 
Duumow  (Essex),    its  supplication   on 

behalf  of  deprived  ministers,  96 

East  Molesey,  the  secret  press  at,  233  ; 
Penry's  Defence  printed  at,  313  ; 
Demonstration  of  Discipline  printed 
at,  313  ;  ecclesiastical  courts,  39,  59 

Ecclesiasticae  Disciplinae  Explicatio 
(W.  Travers),  51,  135 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  and  the  English  Bible, 
3  ;  her  ecclesiastical  policy,  6  her 
want  of  spiritual  religion,  6  her 
love  of  ecclesiastical  display,  6  her 
skill  in  diplomatic  intrigue,  7  the 
early  difficulties  of  her  reign,  7  her 
diplomatic  courtships,  7  ;  her  i  se  of 
the  jealousies  of  France  and  Spain, 
7  ;  her  religious  compromise,  8  her 
determination  to  have  uniformity, 
11;  the  "idol "  crucifix,  11  ;  her  pre- 
tended sympathy  with  Romanism, 
11  ;  cruel  punishment  of  Stubbe  and 
Page,  30  ;  excommunicated  by  the 
Pope,  26  ;  her  suitors,  28  ;  her  auger 
at  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
46;  her  liking  for  works  in  Latin,  51 ; 
her  determination  of  the  polity  of  the 
Church,  56  ;  commands  Archbishop 


Grindal  to  suppress  the  prophesy- 
ings,  62  ;  her  imperious  treatment  of 
Archbishop  Grindal,  65  ;  complains 
of  unworthy  men  ordained  to  the 
ministry,  110  ;  complains  to  James 
that  Penry  and  Waldegrave  are 
harboured  in  Scotland,  211  ;  cele- 
brates defeat  of  the  Armada  at  St. 
Paul's,  314  ;  orders  strict  search  for 
the  secret  press,  314  ;  opening  of  her 
seventh  Parliament,  316  ;  proclama- 
tion of  schismatical  books,  316  ; 
orders  strict  examination  of  Mar- 
prelate  printers,  319 

Episcopal  literary  freelances,  219-221  ; 
rearrangements  in  1570,  31 

EPISTLE,  THE  (first  Marprelate  Tract), 
149  ;  the  printing  of,  155,  314,  323; 
its  circulation  at  Court,  159 

EPITOME,  THE  (second  Marprelate 
Tract),  149  ;  printed  at  Fawsley, 
161  ;  despatched  to  London  vid 
Northampton,  164,  314,  323  ;  ob- 
tained by  visitor  at  Fawsley,  316 

Essex,  Earl  of,  presents  Elizabeth  with 
THE  EPISTLE,  159 

Excommunicatio  Gapiendo,  De  (the 
Writ),  71 

Excommunication  of  Elizabeth,  26 

Exhortation  to  the  Bishops  to  deal 
Brotherly,  An,  43 

Exhortation  to  the  Bishops  and  their 
Clergie,  43 

Exhortation  to  the  Governours  of  Wales, 
An  (John  Penry),  153,  233,  312 

Exiles,  the,  their  return  on  the  death 
of  Mary,  3  ;  their  developed  reform- 
ing views,  3,  5 

Family  of  Love,  the,  173 

Fawsley  House,  the  secret  press  at,  156 ; 

THE  EPITOME  obtained  at,  316 
Felton,  John,  exposes  in  London  the 

Bull   of    Excommunication    against 

Elizabeth.  26 
Fenner,  Dudley,  on  the  oppression  of 

the  Bishops'    pursuivants,   81  ;    The 

Counterpoyson,  93  ;   harshly  treated 

before  Whitgift,  121 
Ferrar,  Bishop,  and  the  Romish  vest- 
ments, 9 
Field,    John,    not   the   writer   of    the 

tracts,  282 
Field  (John)  and  Wilson  (Thomas),  33, 

36,  40,  48 
First  Parte  of  Pasquills  Apologie,  320, 

329 

Fleet,  the  (prison),  132 
Fowle, ,  25  n. 


344 


THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 


Foxe,  John,  and  the  Komish  vest- 
ments, 10,  13  ;  his  preaching  toler- 
ated for  a  time,  33 

Fregeville,  John,  A  Reformed  Politicke, 
315 

Freke,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  61 

Friendly  Admonition,  A  (L.  Wright), 
236,  320,  329 

Fulk,  Wm.,  Master  of  Pembroke, 
reputed  author  of  The  Learned 
Discourse,  139;  denied  ecclesiastical 
promotion,  126 

Full  and  plaine  declaration  of  Ecclesi- 
astical Discipline  (Travers  and 
Cartwright),  51,  135 

Fuller,  Bishop,  on  Whitgift's  High 
Commission,  76  n. 

Gaols  of  London,  The  State  of 
(W.  Smith,  M.D.),  129  n. 

Gaping  Gulph,  The  (Thomas  Stubbe), 
30 

Garnet, ,  212 

Gatehouse,  the  (prison  at  Westminster), 
131 

Gesuer,  Conrad  (of  Zurich),  4 

Gifford,  Stephen,  confidential  servant 
at  Fawsley,  179,  180  ;  takes  secret 
press  to  Coventry,  315 ;  goes  to 
Coventry  for  a  tract,  316 ;  sent 
abroad,  317 

Gilby,  Anthony,  18 

Godley,  Eleanor,  marries  John  Penry, 
313 

Godley,  Henry,  of  Northampton,  a 
'thirdborowe,'  155  ;  sends  secret 
tracts  to  Baubury,  212  ;  his  house 
raided,  179  ;  house  again  raided  by 
pursuivants,  315 

Godley  Treatise,  A  (R.  Some),  153, 
233,  313  ;  Penry 's  reply  to,  315 

Godly  Treatise,  A  (against  Barrowe 
and  Greenwood)  (R.  Some),  312, 
317  ;  annotated  by  Barrowe,  315 

Good,  John,  of  Kingston-on-Thames, 
161 

Goodman,  Gabriel,  Dean,  24 

Government's  brief  against  the  Martiu- 
ists,  the,  204 

Grace  and  peace  with  al  maner 
spiritual  f ding  (Vestiariau),  19 

Greenwood,  John,  of  Corpus  Christi, 
Cambridge,  53  ;  his  irregular  im- 
prisonment, 81 

Grey,  Lord,  his  speech  in  Parliament 
against  the  Bishops,  313 

Grindal,  Bishop,  and  the  Romish 
vestments,  10,  14  ;  examines  the 
Separatists,  24  ;  dissatisfies  the 


authorities  as  a  persecutor,  31  ; 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  his 
institution,  57  ;  his  Visitation 
Articles,  59  ;  attempts  to  reform  the 
ecclesiastical  courts,  59  ;  his  policy 
with  the  prophesyings,  60  ;  seques- 
tered by  Elizabeth,  63  ;  his  death,  65; 
accused  by  Sandys  of  alienating 
chiirch  property,  66 
Guzman,  Spanish  ambassador,  11 

Hacket's  mad  rebellion,  252 

Hadley  (the  martyr)  and  the  Romish 
vestments,  9 

Haeretico  comburendo,  De,  the  Act,  112 

Hales,  John,  White  Friars  Coventry, 
receives  the  secret  press,  180,  316  ; 
his  obligation  to  Sir  Richard 
Knightley,  180  ;  his  trial,  206,  320  ; 
imprisoned,  319 

Handwriting  of  the  Marprelate  MSS., 
291 

Harborowe,  An  (John  Aylmer),  246 

Harington,  Sir  John  ( Brief e  Viewe),  5 

Hart,  Lord  Mayor,  prohibits  stage 
plays,  319 

Haseley,  Warwickshire,  Home  of  Job 
Throkmorton,  184 

Hatton,  Sir  Christopher,  a  creature  of 
Archbishop  Whitgift,  116 

Hawkins,  Robert,  25 

HAT  ANY  WORKE  (fourth  Marprelate 
Tract),  149  ;  printed  at  Coventry, 
181,  316,  325 

Hertford,  Lord,  warns  Sir  Richard 
Knightley,  182 

High  Commission,  the,  of  Archbishop 
Whitgift  (1583),  74;  a  destroyer  of 
of  the  public  liberties,  75 ;  con- 
demned by  Hume  and  Lingard,  76  ; 
its  unpopularity,  76  ;  its  ^legality, 
76 ;  never  found  a  prisoner  not 
guilty,  77;  under  Whitgift,  Bancroft, 
and  "Laud,  90  ;  at  work,  164  ; 
attacked  by  Marprelate,  262 

Hodgkius,  John,  second  Marprelate 
printer,  185  ;  tortured  in  the  Tower, 
197,  333  ;  his  defence,  198  ;  how 
he  received  the  MS.  of  THESES 
MARTINIANAE,  297  ;  becomes  Mar- 
prelate's  printer,  317  ;  sent  to  the 
Tower,  319  ;  removed  from  the 
Tower  to  the  Marshalsea,  319 ; 
taken  from  the  Marshalsea  to  the 
Tower,  320  ;  his  examination,  333 

Hodgkins,  Simms,  and  Thomlyn  meet 
in  London,  318  ;  reach  Adderbury, 
318  ;  leave  Wolston  for  Warrington 
and  Manchester,  189  ;  arrested  at 


INDEX 


345 


Manchester,  318  ;  taken  prisoners  to 

London,  191  ;  examined,  196,  318  ; 

ordered  to  be  tortured  if  necessary, 

197 

Hodgkins,  Udall,  and  Newman,  con- 
demned to  death,  to  be  seen  by 

Dr.  Andrewes,  200 
Hooker,    Richard,    never    elevated    to 

the  episcopacy,  126 
Home,     Bishop,     and      the     Komish 

vestments,  10 
Houndhill  (Hownall),  210 
House    of    Commons    passes    a    Bill 

against  pluralism,  107  ;  and  Church 

reform,  34 
House  of  Lords,  led  by   the  Bishops, 

rejects  Bill  against  pluralism,  107 
Hughes,  Bishop,  his  excessive  pluralism, 

101 
Humphreys,    Lawrence,    President    of 

Magdalen,  14,  33 
Hunt,  Eev.  John,  1 

Imprisonment  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 

128-130 

Injunction  against  THE  EPISTLE,  151 
Injunctions    against     printing,     1559, 

1566,  1586,  22,  23 

Jackson,  Lawrence,  keeper  of  Fawsley 
House,  159,  314 

Jeff's  of  Upton,  conveys  the  secret  press 
from  Molesey  to  Fawsley,  158,  314 

Jessop,  Dr.  Augustus,  The  (Economy 
of  the  Fleete,  edited  by,  128 

Jewel,  Bishop,  relates  a  story  of 
Bonner,  4  ;  against  the  vestments, 
10,  18  ;  probable  author  of  a  Vesti- 
arian  tract,  20  ;  denounces  pluralism, 
104;  most  distinguished  of  the  early 
Elizabethan  Bishops,  126 

Junius,  Letters  of,  the  authorship  of, 
303 

JUST  CENSURE  AND  KEPROOFE  (see  Mar- 
tin Senior)  (sixth  Marprelate  Tract), 
150 ;  possible  theories  of  authorship, 
298  ;  printed  at  Wolston,  318,  326 

Katherine  de  Medici,  7,  11,  28 

Kett,  Francis,  burnt  by  order  of  Bishop 
Scambler,  313 

Kingston-on-Thames,  the  tracts  sold  at, 
156  ;  Marprelate  inquiry  at,  161,  314 

Kitchin,  Bishop,  his  ecclesiastical  con- 
versions, 5 

Knightley,  Sir  Richard,  of  Fawsley, 
receives  the  secret  press,  156,  313  ; 
disavows  knowledge  of  the  working 
of  the  secret  press,  161 ;  sees  Walde- 


grave  at  Northampton,  314  ;  sees 
Penry  about  the  press,  314  ;  seen 
by  Waldegrave  about  removing 
secret  press,  315 ;  his  threats  against 
the  pursuivants,  178  ;  his  man 
speaks  over  wine  about  the  tracts, 
182,  317  ;  his  imprisonment  and 
and  trial,  205-208,  319,  320 

Knightley,  Valentine,  regrets  his 
father's  accommodation  of  the  secret 
press,  178 

Knollys,  Sir  Francis,  his  sympathy 
with  the  reformers,  12  ;  his  action 
in  favour  of  the  prophesy  ings,  61 

Kydwell,  Nicholas  of  Kingston-on- 
Thames,  156,  161 

Lambeth  conference  on  uniformity,  15 

Lamb  of  God,  A  Theologicall  Discourse 
of  the  (R.  Harvey),  240,  330 

Language  and  style  of  the  tracts  as 
evidence  of  authorship,  292 

Latimer,  Bishop  Hugh,  and  the  Romish 
vestments,  9 

Laud,  Archbishop,  and  the  High  Com- 
mission, 91 

Lawson,  Margaret,  Mrs.,  of  Paul's 
Gate,  156 

Laymen  oppose  Whitgift  (Archbishop), 
94 

Learned  Discourse  of  Ecclesiastical 
Government,  The,  135-139 

Lee,  Sidney,  Dr.,  on  Whitgift's  oppres- 
sive policy,  271 

Legal  help  afforded  to  prisoners,  194 

Leicester,  Earl  of,  his  sympathy  with 
the  reformers,  12  ;  and  church 
plunder,  103  n.  ;  his  death,  313 

Leighton,  Alexander,  brutally  perse- 
cuted by  Laud,  91 

Libel  against  the  Sovereign,  Acts  pro- 
hibiting, 30  n. 

Liberty,  religious,  arrested  by  false 
Biblical  and  political  ideas,  268-271 

Little  Ease,  a  prison  torture,  130,  263 

Lives  of  the  Ministers  of  Coventry  (Dr. 
H.  Sampson),  214 

Lollard's  Tower,  the  (prison  at  Lam- 
beth Palace),  133 

London  prisons  in  1588,  131 

London,  Report  of  the  Royal  Com- 
mission on  the  City  of,  131 

Lord's  Supper,  the,  and  ecclesiastical 
liberty,  55 

Macaulay,  Lord,  on  the  authorship  of 

The  Letters  of  Junius,  303 
Manchester,    Hodgkins,    Simms,    and 

Thomlyn  arrested  at,  190 


THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 


Mar-Martine,  224,  317,  326 

Marprelate  Tracts,  the  seven,  148-151  ; 
their  character,  148 ;  their  popu- 
larity, 151  ;  story  of  their  produc- 
tion, 151  ;  prices  asked  for,  156  ; 
persons  suspected  of  writing,  177, 
277-289  ;  their  authorship,  273  ; 
divided  into  'primary'  and  'second- 
ary,' 274  ;  clues  in  the  text  to 
their  authorship,  276  ;  a  great  pro- 
test against  oppression,  265  ;  rela- 
tive literary  merits  of  the  two  classes 
of,  301  ;  inquiry  at  Kingston,  314  ; 
inquiry  at  Richmond,  315 

Marprelate,  Martin,  charged  with  trea- 
son, 220,  255  ;  shown  on  the  stage, 
221  -  223  ;  the  charge  of  heresy 
against,  256  ;  the  charge  of  blas- 
phemy against,  257  ;  the  charge  of 
scurrility  against,  258  ;  his  patriot- 
ism, 262 ;  justifies  his  wit  and 
satire,  263  ;  his  purpose  in  writing 
the  tracts,  305 

Marprelate  journeys  to  Warrington  and 
Manchester,  318 

Marprelate  printing-house,  the  first, 
154 

Marre  Mar-Martin,  231,  319,  328 

Marshalsea,  the  (prison),  134 

MARTIN  JUNIOR  (see  THESES  MARTIN- 
IAN  AE),  how  the  'copy'  was  obtained, 
186  ;  printed  at  Wolston,  187 

MARTIN  SENIOR  (see  THE  JUST  CEN- 
SURE AND  REPROOFE),  printed  at 
Wolston,  188  ;  taken  to  London  by 
Newman,  188 

Martin,  Sir  Roger,  Lord  Mayor,  24, 
317 

Martins  Months  Mind,  229,  319,  328 

Martyn  said  to  his  man,  223 

Maskell,  Rev.  William,  2 

Meadows,  James,  takes  Throkmorton's 
MS.  to  Middleburgh,  193,  195  n. 

Merbury,  Francis,  not  the  writer  of 
the  tracts,  281 

Meyrick,  Bishop,  robs  the  Church, 
102 

Mildmay,  Sir  Walter,  61 

MINERALLS,  THE  (third  Marprelate 
tract),  149,  181,  316,  324 

Ministry,  an  unlearned,  108,  109, 
110 

MORE  WORK  FOR  THE  COOPER,  print- 
ing of,  begun  at  Manchester,  190 

Morrice,  James,  attorney,  on  Whit- 
gift's  High  Commission,  77,  87  ; 
engaged  by  Burleigh  to  defend  Caw- 
drey,  79  ;  his  persecution  and 
death,  89  n. 


Mullins,  Archdeacon,  demands  sub- 
scription of  London  ministers,  14 

Muse,  to,  significance  of  the  use  of  the 
word,  294,  n. 

Music  in  the  Church,  Puritan  view  of, 
137 

Myrrorfor  Martinists,  320,  330 

Nash,  Thomas,  leaves  Cambridge,  318  ; 
The  First  parte  of  Pasquils 
Apologie,  239 

Newgate  (prison),  132 

Newman,  Humfrey,  (afo' 

chief  distributor  of  the  tracts,  163, 
181  ;  his  disguise  and  later  livery, 
163  ;  offered  a  form  of  submission, 
201  ;  distributes  HAY  ANY  WORKS, 
316  ;  invites  Sharpe  to  print,  '318  ; 
carries  contraband  tracts  from  North- 
ampton to  Banbury,  212 

New  Testament,  the,  its  influence  in 
English,  2  ;  its  moral  dynamic,  3 

Nonconformists,  their  number  in  Lon- 
don (1567),  25 

Nonconformity,  its  origin  under  the 
Advertisments,  15  ;  openly  practised, 
20 

North,  Lord,  demands  the  alienation  of 
Church  property  for  the  Queen,  65 

Norton,  Thomas,  warns  Whitgift  by 
the  example  of  Aylmer,  115 

Oath,    ex  officio,    the,  its   oppressive- 
ness, 75,  80 
Oppression,  civil  and  religious,  resisted 

only  by  the  reformers,  271 
Oppugn,  to,  significance  of  the  use  of 

the  word,  295  n. 
Ordination,    granted   indiscriminately, 

37 
Overton,  William,  Bishop    (Lichfield), 

accused    of    reckless    and     corrupt 

ordinations,  110 
Oxford    Assizes     affected    by    prison 

disease,  129 

Page,  (publisher  of  The  Gaping  Gulph), 
30 

Pagit,  Eusebius,  not  the  writer  of  the 
Tracts,  283 

Pappe  with  an  hatchet,  228,  319,  328 

Parker,  Archbishop,  in  hiding,  5,  6  ;  on 
the  Romish  vestments,  10 ;  his 
trouble  with  the  Advertisments,  11  ; 
demands  subscription,  15  ;  accuses 
Grindal  of  lukewarmness  in  perse- 
cuting, 31  ;  his  autocratic  power  re- 
pudiated in  Parliament,  35  ;  alleged 
author  of  A  Brief  e  Examination,  18  ; 


INDEX 


347 


administration  of  his  income,  50  ; 
corrupt  sources  of  income,  51  ;  his 
death  and  the  consequent  ecclesias- 
tical changes,  57 

Parkhurst,  Bishop,  on  the  unpopularity 
of  the  Roman  Bishops,  4  ;  on  the 
Komish  vestments,  10  ;  supports  the 
prophesyings,  61 

Parliament,  Elizabeth's  seventh,  opened, 

316  ;  and  Church  Reform,  34 
Pasquils   Apologie,    the  First  Parte  of 

(T.  Nash),  239 

Penry,  John,  his  conversion  from 
Romanism,  238  ;  The  Exhortation, 
233  ;  A  Defence  of  that  ivhich  hath 
been  written,  233  ;  his  reply  to  R. 
Some,  315  ;  marries  Eleanor  Godley, 
155,  313  ;  negotiates  with  Sir  Richard 
Knightley,  313  ;  his  alleged  disguise 
at  Fawsley,  162;  Th'  Appellation, 
210  ;  reports  Waldegrave  at  Rochelle, 

317  ;   reports  Hodgkins'  acceptance 
as  printer,  317  ;  his  alias  atWolston, 
187  ;  guarantees  the  printers'  wages, 
187  ;  meets  Waldegrave  at  Haseley, 
316  ;  suspected  of  being  Marprelate, 
284  ;  hiding  in  the  Midlands,  319  ; 
calls  on  Udall  at  Newcastle,  319  ;  his 
escape  to  Scotland,  208,  211  ;  Throk- 
movton's  intercepted  correspondence 
with,  208  ;  banishment   from    Scot- 
land decreed,  321  ;  with  R.  Walde- 
grave  printing  a  tract  at  Molesey, 
313 

Penry,  Deliverance,  daughter  of  John 
Penry,  209 

Penry,  John,  and  Job  Throkmorton, 
directors  of  the  secret  press,  289  ; 
familiar  with  the  MS.  of  the  secondary 
tracts,  290  ;  their  handwriting  and 
the  Marprelate  MSS.,291  ;  and  the 
authorship  of  the  tracts,  289-308  ; 
their  language  and  style  compared 
with  that  of  the  tracts,  292 

Penry,  Throkmorton,  and  Waldegrave 
meet  finally  at  Haseley,  209 

Perne,  Andrew,  Master  of  Peterhouse, 
47,  57,  243  ;  screens  Whitgift  from 
Cardinal  Pole,  113  ;  his  ecclesiastical 
changes,  113  ;  is  defended  by  Whit- 
gift,  114,  115  n.;  his  death  at 
Lambeth  Palace,  317 

Persecution,  its  influence  on  the  English 
mind,  4  ;  Bishop  Bonner's  suggestion 
and  privacy,  4  ;  apologists  for,  266  ; 
the  common  people  and  Romanist, 
267 

Petition  directed  to  her  Majesty r,  A, 
13,  244,  311,  330 


Petitions  against  the  deprivation  of 
ministers,  96 

Philip  II.,  King  of  Spain,  7 

Piers,  John,  elected  Archbishop  of 
York,  316 

Pius  V.  excommunicates  Elizabeth,  26 

Plaine  Percevall  the  Peace-Maker,  231 

Pleasaunte  Dialogue,  A  (A.  Gil  by),  19 

Plumbers'  Hall  meeting,  14,  23 

Pluralism  and  non-residency,  99 ; 
restricted  by  the  Canons  of  1571, 
100  ;  denounced  by  Bishop  Jewel, 
104 ;  defended  by  Whitgift,  105 ; 
defended  by  Archbishop  Bancroft, 
106  ;  defended  by  Bishop  Cooper, 
106  ;  denounced  by  laymen,  107  ; 
defended  by  Bishops  and  House  of 
Lords,  107  ;  opposed  by  the  House 
of  Commons,  107 

Pole,  Reginald,  Cardinal,  visits  Cam- 
bridge, 112 

Prayer  Book,  the,  of  1549,  and  the 
"ornaments,"  9  ;  of  1552,  the  basis 
of  Elizabethan  creed,  13 

Presbyterians,  History  of  (P.  Heylin), 
94  n. 

Press,  the  secret,  the  episcopal  search 
for,  160  ;  at  East  Molesey,  154  ;  at 
Fawsley  House,  157  ;  removed  from 
Fawsley,  178  ;  removed  from  Norton 
to  Coventry,  316 

Press  censorship,  21,  48 

Printers  leave  London  for  Wolston, 
186 

Prisoners,  petition  in  favour  of  Noncon- 
formist, 129  ;  never  legally  indicted 
and  condemned,  130 

Prisons  of  England  and  Wales,  The 
State  of  (John  Howard),  129  n. 

Prison  diseases,  129 

Privy  Councillors'  protest  against  Ayl- 
mer's  deprivations,  97 

Proclamation  against  secret  printing 
and  anti-episcopal  tracts,  177 

Prophesyings,  the,  60-63 

Protestantism  more  than  a  creed,  112 

Protestant  Reformers,  three  types  of, 
55 

PROTESTATTON,THE(seventhMarprelate 
Tract),  191-194,  319,  327;  the 
question  of  its  authorship,  303  ;  its 
author  unmarried,  306 

Queen's  Bench  (prison),  134 

Reformatio  Legum,  13,  245 
Reformation  without  tarying  for  anie 

(R.  Browne),  54 
Reformation,  expectation  of  further.  13 


348 


THE   MARPRELATE  TRACTS 


Reformed  Politick^  A  (John  Frege- 
ville),  315 

Eeformers,  the,  and  the  Romish  vest- 
ments, 9  ;  imperfect  views  of  re- 
ligious liberty,  267 

Religious  Thought  in  England  (J. 
Hunt),  1 

Renaissance  and  Reformation  in  Eng- 
land, the,  145-148 

Reply e  to  an  Ansioere  made  by  Dr. 
Whitgift,  49 

Report  of  the  Royal  Commission,  1898, 
on  the  City  of  London,  131 

Returne  of  Pasquill,  The  (T.  Nash), 
227,  319,  328 

Rhythmes  against  Martin  (Whip  for 
an  Ape],  227,  319,  327 

Richmond,  Marprelate  enquiry  at,  315 

Rising,  Romanist,  in  the  north,  26  ;  in 
Norfolk,  27 

Rochelle,  Waldegrave  at,  184 

Rogers,  Walter,  witness  at  Marprelate 
enquiry,  315 

Romanists  and  national  progress,  26 ; 
why  religious  liberty  was  denied 
them,  266 

Rough,  John,  25  n. 

St.  Bartholomew's  massacre,  46 

Sampson,  Thomas,  Dean  of  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  14,  33,  64 

Sandys,  Bishop  (London),  32,  33,  45, 
58 ;  on  the  Romish  vestments,  10 ;  ex- 
pects further  reform  of  Prayer  Book, 
13 

Scambler,  Bishop  (Norwich),  condemns 
Kett  to  the  stake,  313 

Scory,  Bishop  (Peterborough),  pastor  of 
the  secret  Church  in  London,  25  ;  his 
alienation  of  Church  property,  102 

Scotch  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Non- 
conformists, 21 

Scotland,  correspondence  about  Henry 
and  Waldegrave,  211 

Second  Admonition  to  Parliament,  42 

Secret  Church  in  London  under  Mary, 
pastors  of,  25  and  note 

Secret  press,  a,  discovered  at  Hamp- 
stead,  48 

Sedition,  Marprelate  charged  with,  255 

Service  Book,  the,  used  secretly  in 
Mary's  reign,  24 

Settle,  Thomas,  browbeaten  at  the 
High  Commission  by  Whitgift,  121 

Simms,  Valentine,  assistant  to  J. 
Hodgkins,  185 ;  his  examination, 
335  ;  his  later  activities,  204 

Simms  and  Thomlyn,  their  final  ex- 
amination, 319 


Sion's  Plea  against  Prelacy  (Alex. 
Leighton),  91 

Sir -Marten  Marr- People  and  his  Cotter 
of  Jesses,  332 

Sharpe,  Edward,  minister  at  Fawsley, 
162 

Sharpe,  Henry,  bookbinder,  only  partly 
trusted  by  Penry,  163  ;  stitches 
HAY  ANY  WORKE,  182,  316  ;  warned 
away  by  Peury  and  Hales,  180  ; 
invited  to  print  the  tracts,  318  ; 
betrays  the  Marprelate  confederates, 
155,  201  -  204  ;  his  deposition  be- 
fore Hatton,  319 

Smith,  John,  24 

Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  61 

Some,  Robert,  Dr.,  A  Godly  Treatise, 
153,  233  ;  confesses  that  unworthy 
men  enter  the  ministry,  109  ;  his 
Godly  Treatise  annotated  by  Barrowe, 
315 

Some,  M\aster],  laide  open  in  his 
Coulers,  210,  233,  320,  332 

Spanish  Armada,  the,  thanksgiving  for 
its  defeat,  165 

Spurrier,  a,  at  Pie  Corner,  Smithfield, 
is  Martin's  agent,  182 

Stafford],  W.,  attacks  pluralism,  107 

Stage  plays,  Marprelate  caricatured  in, 
221  ;  anti-Martinist,  prohibited,  223 

Stanhope,  Dr.,  ecclesiastical  lawyer,  79 

Stationers'  Company,  the,  their  rights 
of  seizure,  23 

Stewes,  the  laws  of  the,  259,  260  n. 

Strickland  (M.P.),  34 

Stubbe,  Thomas,  The  Gaping  Gulph, 
30 

Stubbes,  Philip,  attacks  pluralism,  108 

Supplication,  A  (John  Penry),  pub- 
lished, 316 

Survey  of  the  pretended  Holy  Discipline 
(Dr.  Bancroft),  249,  331 

Sutcliffe,  Matthew,  Answer  e  to  Job 
Throkmorton,  235,  253  ;  his  inter- 
pretation of -Throkmorton's  denial, 
308 

Taylor,  Rowland  (the  martyr),  and  the 
Romish  vestments,  9 

Thacker,  Elias  (congregational  martyr), 
54 

THESES  MARTINIANAE  [see  MARTIN 
JUNIOR]  (fifth  Marprelate  Tract), 
150,  318,  326  ;  significance  of  its 
unfinished  condition,  295  ;  how  the 
copy  reached  the  printer,  297  ;  pos- 
sible theories  of  its  authorship,  298 

Thirty-nine  Articles,  the,  their  Protest- 
ant character,  15 


INDEX 


349 


Thomlyu,  Arthur,  assistant  to  J. 
Hodgkins,  185  ;  his  examination,  335 

Three  articles  for  subscription,  the,  38 

Throkmorton,  Bess,  maid  of  honour  to 
Elizabeth,  218 

Throkmorton,  Clement,  father  of  Job, 
184 

Throkmorton,  Sir  George,  of  Coughton, 
184 

Throkmorton,  Job,  of  Haseley  Manor, 
184,  185  ;  supports  Penry's  ^Equity, 
216  ;  his  petitions  to  Burleigh  and 
Hatton,  216  ;  his  kinship  to  Katherine 
Parr,  218 ;  his  connection  with  Racket, 
219  ;  his  interview  with  Copinger, 
252  ;  his  alias  at  Wolstou,  187 ;  sus- 
pected of  being  Marprelate,  284  ; 
pursuivant  fails  to  arrest,  215  ;  pro- 
ceedings against,  214  ;  charged  at 
the  Warwick  Assizes,  215  ;  his 
appeal  to  Hatton,  321  ;  denies  he  is 
Marprelate,  253,  307  ;  alleged  later 
writings,  195  ;  the  authorship  of  the 
tracts,  289-308 

Thynne,  Francis,  refers  to  Marprelate, 
314 

Tithes  and  voluntary  offerings,  Bishop 
Cooper's  views  on,  170,  171 

Tompkins,  Nicholas,  Mrs.  Crane's 
servant,  examined,  177,  316;  second 
examination,  319  ;  beyond  the  sea, 
320 

To  myfaithfutt  Brethren  (Vestiarian), 
19 

To  my  louynge  brethren  (Vestiarian), 
19 

Tower,  the,  of  London,  133 

Toy,  Humphrey  (bookbinder),  43 

Tylney,  Edmund,  licenser  of  plays, 
222 

Tyndale,  William,  as  a  translator,  2 

Udall,  John,  of  Corpus  Christi,  Cam- 
bridge, 53  ;  writes  Diotrephes,  152  ; 
confers  with  Stephen  Chatfield,  313  ; 
his  notes  used  by  Marprelate,  213  ; 
silenced,  312  ;  his  ministry  at  New- 
castle-on-Tyne,  213  ;  preached  before 
the  Scotch  General  Assembly,  211  ; 
reaches  London  from  Newcastle,  320  ; 
examined  at  Lord  Cobham's,  320  ; 
his  imprisonment,  212  ;  removed  to 
White  Lion  prison,  320  ;  in  fetters 
at  Croydon,  320  ;  not  Marprelate, 
277 

Underdown,  Thomas  (minister  of 
Lewes),  conference  with  Whitgift,  72 

Uniformity,  ecclesiastical,  1  ;  produces 
nonconformity,  15  ;  not  compre- 


hension, the  basis  of  the  Establish- 
ment,  15  ;  rigorously  imposed,  15  ; 
Acts  of,  their  influence  on  the  Church, 
16  ;  their  failure,  16 
Unlawful  Practises  of  Prelates,  The,  92 

Vernon,     Dorothy,     married    to    Job 

Throkmorton,  210  n. 
Vestiarian  Controversy,  the,  inherited 

from     the     reformers,    9  ;     Bishop 

Hooper's  action  in,  9  ;  its  literature, 

17 
Viewe  of    some  part   of  such  publike 

wants   (The   Supplication)    (Penry) 

181 

Wake,  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  45 

Waldegrave,  Robert,  Puritan  printer, 
151  ;  sees  Sir  Richard  Knightley, 
157  ;  enters  a  book  at  Stationers' 
Hall,  312;  his  type  ordered  to  be 
destroyed,  312  ;  his  house  raided, 
312  ;  takes  some  type  to  Mrs.  Crane's 
house,  312  ;  his  wife  takes  the  type 
from  Mrs.  Crane's,  312  ;  with  Peury 
printing  at  East  Moseley,  312  ; 
printing  at  Fawsley,  161  ;  his  house 
broken  into,  315  ;  gives  tracts  to  a 
visitor  to  Fawsley,  314 ;  sees  Sir 
Richard  .Knightley  about  removing 
the  press,  315  ;  retires  from  the 
Martinist  press,  182  ;  his  black  letter 
type,  1 55 ;  his  movements  after  leaving 
Coventry,  183,  184  ;  dines  with  R. 
Sharpe's  father-in-law,  317  ;  re- 
ported at  Rochelle,  317  ;  meets 
Penry  at  Haseley,  316  ;  settled  in 
Scotland,  211  ;  prints  A  Confession 
in  Scotland,  320  ;  prints  Reformation 
no  enemie  (Penry),  320  ;  appointed 
King's  printer  in  Scotland,  321 

Walsingham,  Sir  Francis,  his  reforming 
sympathies,  12 

Warrington,  Martin's  type  spilled  on 
the  ground  at,  189 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  his  sympathy  with 
the  reformers,  12 

Wastal,  a  house  servant  at  Fawsley, 
179 

Wentworth,  Peter  (M.P.),  35 

Whip  for  an  Ape  ( Rhythmes  against 
Martin),  227,  319,  327 

White  Lion,  the  (prison),  134 

White,  Rev.  F.  0.,  4  n. 

Whitgift,  John,  outwardly  conforms 
in  Mary's  reign,  6  ;  Dean  of  Lincoln, 
45  ;  why  he  ceased  the  Admonition 
controversy,  49;  traduces  Archbishop 
Parker's  memory,  57  ;  Bishop  of  Wor- 


350 


THE  MARPRELATE  TRACTS 


cester,  his  zeal  against  Eoman 
recusants,  67 ;  fills  all  vacancies  with 
his  own  supporters,  68  ;  resists  the 
alienation  of  cathedral  lands,  76  ; 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  his  quali- 
fications for  the  primacy,  69  ;  his 
primacy,  69  ;  his  new  articles,  70  ; 
on  Satan's  love  for  women  72  ;  de- 
fends the  Apocrypha,  72  ;  his  new 
High  Commission  74  ;  his  view  of 
Confirmation,  78;  his  interrogatories, 
82  n.  2  ;  examines  H.  Barrowe,  83  ; 
opposed  by  Eobert  Beale,  98  ;  de- 
fends pluralism,  105  ;  his  character 
and  opinions,  111  ;  his  consistent 
policy,  111  ;  his  one  opposition  to 
his  ecclesiastical  superiors,  111  n. ;  the 
failure  of  his  policy  in  the  long-run, 
112  ;  becomes  a  Protestant,  112  ; 
and  Cardinal  Pole,  112  ;  his  Pro- 
testantism screened  by  Dr.  Andrew 
Perne,  113  ;  his  sermon  on  the  re- 
storation of  Protestantism,  114  ;  his 
deference  to  his  superiors,  114  ;  his 
interested  bestowal  of  patronage, 
114  ;  his  faithfulness  to  his  friends 
and  party,  115,  117  ;  his  defence  of 
Perne  and  Aylmer,  115  ;  fills  public 
offices  with  his  supporters,  116  ;  his 
theory  of  episcopacy,  117  ;  on  the 
distinction  of  bishop  and  elder,  118  ; 
his  list  of  Bancroft's  qualifications 
for  the  episcopacy,  118  ;  his  grand 
and  ostentatious  manner  of  living, 
119  ;  agreed  theologically  with  the 
Nonconformists,  120  ;  retained  the 
pomp  and  authority  of  the  Eoman 
hierarchy,  120  ;  his  merciless  per- 
secution of  Wigginton,  120  ;  rails 
at  Fenner  and  Settle,  121  ;  opposes 
any  mercy  in  the  treatment  of  Non- 
conformists, 122  ;  indicts  Beale  for 
condemning  the  rack,  122  ;  his  false 
promises  of  favour  to  Nonconformist 
prisoner,  123 ;  showed  no  pity  to 


Sir  Eichard  Knightley,  123  ;  his 
relentless  persecution  of  Udall,  124 ; 
imprisonment  under  him.  127  ;  dele- 
gates censorship  to  E.  Cosin,  312  ; 
letter  on  the  arrest  of  the  printers, 
318 

Wickham,  W.,  Dean  of  Lincoln,  47  ; 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  313 

Wigginton,  Giles,  his  opposition  to 
Whitgift,  83-86  ;  his  imprisonments, 
84  ;  receives  early  copies  of  the 
tracts,  155 ;  imprisoned  for  pos- 
sessing copies  of  the  tracts,  164  ; 
examined,  315  ;  not  the  writer  of 
the  tracts,  280 

Wigstou,  Eoger,  of  Wolston  Priory, 
his  imprisonment  and  trial,  206-208, 
319 

Wigston,  Mrs.,  of  Wolston  Priory,  her 
imprisonment  and  trial,  206-208,  320 

Wilson,  J.  Dover,  M.A.,  corrects  the 
date  of  Th'  Appellation  (Penry),  179 
n.  ;  his  speculation  about  Walde- 
grave's  'Dutch  letters,'  183;  ex- 
plains the  printing  of  THE  PRO- 
TEST ATT  ON,  193  n. 

Wilson,  John,  replies  to  Whitgift  and 
Aylmer  on  illegal  subscription,  95 

Winchester,  Bishops  of,  the,  and  the 
stewes,  259 

Wolf,  John,  consults  Archbishop  Whit- 
gift about  Waldegrave's  press,  312 

Wolston  Priory  (seat  of  Eoger  Wigs- 
ton),  pamphlets  taken  to,  189 

Wood,  Lawrence,  of  Fish  Street,  Lon- 
don, employed  by  Newman,  189 

Worship,  character  of  public,  38 

Wright,  Leonard,  A  Friendly  Ad- 
monition, 236,  320 

Yelverton, (M.P.),  35 

Ydverton  MSS.,  335 

Young,    Archbishop,  robs  the  leaden 

roofs  at  .York,  102  ;  robs  the  See  of 

St.  David's,  102 


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